Crossing Boundaries
by Stygian Hazard
Summary: What if Alice had been just a bit more interested in Sōma than she had let on? After hearing more and more about the transfer student Yukihira Sōma, she started to go out of her way to run into him. As time goes on, even Sōma starts to take more notice of her. Although, it's not as though Alice really gave him much of a choice in the matter.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a one-shot for now, but it could become a series based on reader feedback.**

 **For some reason, the dynamic between Alice and Sōma is really interesting to me. Well, Sōma has an interesting relationship with everyone he meets, so it's easy to think up practically anything. Maybe I'll write another pairing in this section someday.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"Dear grandfather!" Alice called out. "Where are you?!"

Alice pouted as she skipped through the halls of Tōtsuki Culinary Academy. She had been hoping to see her grandfather before the opening ceremony for the high school section. Unfortunately, he wasn't in his office like he usually was. She should have expected it though. Her grandfather hated being cooped up in there. Still, while it was so close to the start of the year, he should be too busy to leave. It was a bit strange of him. Then again, no one could ever tell what that man was thinking. Not the teachers, or the sponsors, or even his own family.

' _Geez,'_ Alice bit her lip as she kept walking down the halls. _'Where could he be?'_

A sudden booming laughter from nearby startled her. She stared in the direction it came from and started walking towards the room she thought it had come from.

' _Is that…?'_ Alice thought as she got closer. Once she was near enough, she saw a tall man wearing an olive-green yukata tied with a white obi. _'Bingo.'_

Alice walked up slowly and knocked on the open door to get his attention.

"Hello, dear grandfather." Alice said.

"Ah, if it isn't Alice-chan," Senzaemon said as he turned around. "What brings you here today?"

Alice was about to respond when a crumpled up piece of paper in her grandfather's hand caught her attention. She pointed at it inquisitively. "What's that?"

Senzaemon glance down at the paper and grinned slightly. "It is a new transfer student's application."

"Oh?" Alice questioned, walking further into the room. She noticed the red mark on it. "So he failed?"

"No, he did not," Senzaemon placed the paper within his yukata. "I'm going to go and get his acceptance letter ready right now."

' _You are? Personally?'_ Alice thought. She didn't want to question him aloud. If he thought the person was good enough, then they were. Still, it wasn't often that the director of the Tōtsuki Culinary Academy himself would do such a thing. Actually, he wasn't in charge of checking transfers at all.

"I wasn't aware that you were checking the potential transfer students yourself, dear grandfather." Alice said lightly.

"Erina-chan was in charge of the test here today." Senzaemon stated.

' _So Erina failed them, and grandfather approved them?'_ Alice looked around the room and took notice of there being only one dish on the table. Evidently, this was the only person who was either confident enough or stupid enough to give their dish to her cousin's God's Tongue. It was certainly interesting though. It looked like a Furikake Gohan, yet there seemed to be something more mixed into it. _'I wonder...'_

Senzaemon took notice of his granddaughter's curiosity and pushed the bowl closer to her. "Would you like to try a bite? It's a little bit cold, but not bad."

"No thanks," Alice said, turning and looking away. "I don't care at all."

' _Such a bad liar.'_ Senzaemon couldn't help but think as he observed Alice's eyes darting to look back at the dish before swiftly looking away.

"Well, perhaps I'll finish it myself then." Senzaemon murmured as he picked up the bowl and brought it closer to his mouth.

"Ah!" Alice cried out and raised her hand as if to stop him before catching herself. She couldn't help but blush as her grandfather raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Hmm," He hummed and looked at the dish before place it on the table in front of her. "You may have it. I must go and send an acceptance letter to Sōma-kun."

Senzaemon then proceeded to walk out before Alice could rebuke him. She looked back at the dish, missing her grandfather glancing back to smile slightly at her before he walked off.

' _Yukihira Sōma-kun?'_ Senzaemon thought as he looked at the picture of Sōma. _'That boy really is your son… Jōichirō.'_

Smiling to himself, he made his way back to his office.

Meanwhile, back in the room, Alice was standing by the microwave after placing the Furikake Gohan inside to warm up a bit. She smelled the aroma the now warm Furkikake Gohan gave off and couldn't help but sigh. While it wasn't a perfect dish, it was certainly an interesting dish. She couldn't believe someone her age who wasn't a part of Tōtsuki had made it.

' _I could have made it better though.'_ Alice thought conceitedly as she took a bite of the Furikake Gohan.

"Ohh…" Alice's eyes widened and she bent over the table as the flavors washed over her. This was new. There was jellied meat broth mixed in. It brought out the eggs sweetness along with adding body and saltiness to the dish. It harmonized far better than she would have thought. And it was such a simple dish too.

' _You would actually fail this dish, Erina?"_ Alice thought incredulously. There was no doubt the chef who made this dish was worthy of being added to the high school section. Whether or not he would stay was another matter. But without a doubt the chef should be allowed entrance. _'You're slipping, Erina.'_

Alice quickly finished the dish and sighed in minor disappointment when she was done. It was such a shame that there wasn't anymore. Still, now that he was going to be a student, maybe they would meet. She tossed the bowl into a sink and walked out of the room.

"Let's see…" Alice said out loud as she walked back through the halls. Her earlier reasons to meet with her grandfather had all been forgotten after learning of this new development. "I suppose I'll meet him at the opening ceremony."

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Sōma walked into the room and looked around. There were a lot of rich people milling about. Most of them seemed really stuck up. The entire room had other boys in it. Yet, in the front, stood one girl with fair white skin and hair with the brightest red eyes he had ever seen. Standing next to her was a boy that looked to be his age with wine red eyes and a bored look on his face as he stared at the far wall uninterestedly.

"Hello everyone!" The girl said brightly as she waved at everyone with a bright smile on her face. "My name is Nakiri Alice. I'll be your examiner for the day. Luckily for you all, I have a really simple test for you. All you need to do is make me something to eat while using an egg as the main ingredient. Oh! And you all have one minute to withdraw right now if you want."

Almost immediately, everyone ran out of the room. Sōma looked around in shock before looking back to the front at the girl now identified as Alice. Alice looked back at him attentively.

"So like," Sōma started, looking around one more time to see if he really was the only one left. He was apparently. "Can I make whatever I want?"

"Hmm," Alice hummed thoughtfully as she stared at him. "Well, I suppose so. But since you're the only one who bothered to stay... You pass. Congratulations."

"Huh?" Sōma stared in disbelief.

Alice grinned and stamped a pass mark on his transfer form. "Here, you'll be getting an official acceptance letter within a few weeks. Bye bye."

Alice quickly left the room with the boy who was standing behind her before following her closely.

Sōma just stared at their retreating backs. "Huh?"

* * *

 **A/N: So there we have it. I'm sorry for the shortness. If I do continue, the next couple of chapters or so will also be short until the training camp where I'll have more leeway to have Alice and Sōma interact. Until then, it'll just be Alice's reactions and such to Sōma related things. Things will get longer as I do filler stuff or other meetings between them, if I continue. This was more of an practice thing anyways. Hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think in the reviews. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well it got enough feedback for me to decide that it was worth continuing.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"Where are you?" Alice asked out loud as she looked for the transfer student within the crowd at the first year's opening ceremony. The day had finally come and Alice actually got ready early to go to the ceremony and scope the new student out. Unfortunately, she couldn't see him at all. The whole crowd was made up of students who had passed the middle school section. So seeing the transfer student, while hard, shouldn't be so difficult. All she had to do was look for someone new. With her memory, she was sure she would be able to notice someone she hadn't before.

"There you are, ojou-sama." A monotone voice sounded from behind her.

Alice huffed and turned around. "There you are, Ryō-kun. Where have you been? Can't you see I've been waiting here all alone?"

"I wasn't expecting you to get up so early," Ryō said plainly as he moved up to stand beside her. "What with you needing your beauty sleep and all."

"Hmph." Alice looked away. She would have said more, but decided that finding the transfer student would be more interesting.

Ryō stared blankly at Alice. In all of their years together, he had never seen her not bite back after he said something like that. And she was looking around at the gathered students as well. She was definitely looking for someone. Before he could ask, the announcer started talking about more relevant matters.

"We will now to give the award to the best of the year. Representative of the new first years, Nakiri Erina." The announcer of the event, Kawashima Urara, called out.

"Hmmmm." Alice stared angrily at the stage.

Beside her, Ryō stealthily moved a step to the right just in case Alice decided to take her frustration out on him.

All around her, Alice could hear the other students praising and complimenting her cousin. While some of it was definitely earned, she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. She had to fight not to scoff as she heard some of the things people were saying.

' _A date? Really?'_ Alice stared at the fool who had dared to utter such a thing. _'I doubt anyone here would ever actually ask her out. Then again, even if someone did, I bet Erina wouldn't give them any time of day at all. The only thing she cares about is cooking and proving she's better than everyone else.'_

Alice's train of thought continued until she noticed that her grandfather had walked onto the stage. She smiled at him, not that he could see her. Still, seeing him again was definitely better than seeing Erina. There was no doubt that he was the only thing she missed in Japan after traveling with her parents to Denmark to study cooking at Nakiri International. Still though, she tuned out his speech about how Tōtsuki Culinary Academy works. She knew the speech by heart already, having heard about it since she was just a child.

"Are you ok, ojou-sama?" Ryō questioned after seeing her continue to stare blankly at the stage for some time now. Normally, he wouldn't care much. But this was different than how Alice usually was. She was a bit excited for today, for some unknown reason, but now she seemed more preoccupied than anything. She didn't even complain about Erina to him when Erina was on stage. It was highly unusual.

"Oh?" Alice turned and looked at him. "Are you worried about your master, Ryō-kun?"

"No, never mind." Ryō said before looking back at the stage.

"Such a bad dog…" Alice sighed in mock disappointment.

Ryō had to fight not to shout back. It wouldn't look good to do such a thing during a ceremony. Plus, Alice would bitch at him about it later. It wouldn't be worth it. At all.

Alice pouted as Ryō continued to ignore her. Still, it gave her some time to keep looking around without him questioning her. She idly went back to searching the crowd. It was strange, she was sure she would have found him by now. Maybe she should have snuck into her grandfather's office and looked at the picture. That would have helped. In fact, she could have seen the address and just visited the transfer student at his home. Then she wouldn't have had to wait a whole month to see him.

' _Maybe another time.'_ Alice thought.

"We will now introduce the student who was admitted to the high school section." Urara called out.

' _What?!'_ Alice snapped her head to the stage in shock. _'He's going to give a speech? He was in the back the whole time? I got up early for nothing! Ugh, no way.'_ Alice bit her thumb in frustration. All her searching had been pointless. _'Well, at least now I will know for sure who this chef is.'_

Beside her, Ryō took notice of her reaction and expression before turning back to the stage. Though now he was looking a bit more focused. Not that anyone else noticed.

A boy walked up before the stage. Alice was too far back to take notice of his features. She could immediately see his bright red hair and a scarf tied around his wrist. If she squinted hard enough, she could she a scar on his brow. _'He knows a real kitchen, at least.'_ She thought as she took him in.

' _So this is the reason?'_ Ryō thought uninterestedly as he stared at the transfer student. The guy didn't look like much. Then again, he was the sole transfer student of the year. He had to be given some credit. Still, it didn't explain at all why Alice had been looking for him.

"Well… like," He started, scratching his head in minor discomfort as he looked at everyone in front of him. "I'm sorry for being in this high place before you all, hehe… I have to express my intentions here, right? That sucks, do I really have to do this? It's a bit embarrassing, you know?"

"Just get to it!" Urara yelled out in frustration. She caught herself from yelling more and bit her lip before taking a deep breath.

' _Calm down,'_ Urara thought. _'Don't yell at him, in public.'_

"Well then, I'll keep this short and sweet," The transfer student said as he gazed down at the crowd. "I'll say just two or three things. Ahem. My name is Yukihira Sōma. Truth be told, I didn't think I'd be using all of you as stepping stones. But the thing is, I have no intention of losing to a bunch of people who have never stood in front of actual clients."

Alice stared in shock. Did the transfer student really just alienate himself that much?

"Now that I'm here, I'll be taking the top." Sōma said while pointing straight up before walking passed a shocked Urara. Then he stopped suddenly as if he had recalled something. He turned back to the crowd and bowed. "Best regards for the next three years."

He did.

Alice covered her ears to block out the yelling and screaming that immediately took place after that statement. There were things being yelled out a lady such as she should not be hearing. Though inwardly, she was smirking at what she had just heard him say. Not only did she get a name, she now knew what kind of person he was. Dimwitted, for sure. But so very interesting.

"Ojou-sama," Ryō moved in front of her to get her attention. "The ceremony is pretty much over. Shouldn't we be going now?"

"You can go on, Ryō-kun," Alice said. She glanced over to see the transfer student had walked into the tent where Erina had gone. "I need to go check up on something."

"I'll be on my way then, ojou-sama." Ryō nodded slightly in goodbye before walking away. Once he passed the other students, he snickered loudly. _'Top spot, huh? We'll see about that, Yukihira Sōma.'_

Alice made her way to the tent, though it took her some time to pass through the crowd. Once she was there, she heard voices talking. One was Sōma's, and the other was definitely her cousin's.

"Wait for it, Nakiri. I will definitely make you say, "It's good!" after eating my food some day!" Sōma declared. "I'll do whatever it takes. Even if I have to push my cooking passed its limits."

Alice's eyes widened at that declaration. She wished she was inside to see what kind of expression Erina had on her face right now. Alas, she couldn't just barge in their right now. It wasn't the right time. The sudden sound of thudding footsteps got her attention and she quickly moved behind to the side to avoid being seen. Almost immediately, Erina stormed by with an angry look on her face as she made her way to the road where a limo was waiting for her. Alice stared after her.

"Geez, what's her problem?" A voice asked next to her.

"Eep!" Alice yelped and jumped back. She turned and glared at the owner of the voice before staring in shock. Sōma had apparently left the tent right after Erina and was now right next to her. "What are you doing sneaking up on people?!"

Sōma looked at her blankly. For a second, Alice thought he didn't hear her for a second until he finally spoke up.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you why you were eavesdropping?" Sōma replied.

"Uh," Alice blushed. He had her there. "I was just coming to say hello?"

"It doesn't sound like you're too sure about that." Sōma replied, raising his eyebrow. He looked her up and down. White hair, white skin, really delicate looking hands. Was she a chef too? He had never seen one that looked like her before. Then again, there seemed to be all types of people at this school.

Alice fought not to blush as Sōma looked at her. This wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to be mute when she finally met the chef who had made that interesting dish. She was supposed to astound him and get him to be on her side. For what purpose, she wasn't sure. But apparently Erina didn't like him, so he had to be worth her time. Then her brain finally perceived his words and she glared at him. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

Sōma gulped. Suddenly he felt like he was on a platter, and this girl was about to take a bite out of him. He cautiously took a step back and held his hands up as if to ward her off. "Nothing. Nothing at all. It's nice to meet you. I'm Yukihira Sōma."

"Pleased to meet you too." Alice smiled at him brightly.

Almost immediately the feeling of danger vanished and Sōma sighed in relief. This girl was without a doubt the scariest one he'd ever met. He would rather keep talking to Erina almost. Almost.

"Well, good day then Yukihira-kun." Alice replied before turning and walking off without so much as a glance back at him.

"Wait, but I never got your name." Sōma called back to her.

Alice stopped and blushed. That was such a blunder. But she couldn't turn around. Not with this expression on her face. She waved back flippantly. "Call me Alice."

"Alice?" Sōma questioned as he stared at her quickly retreating back. _'She must really be in a hurry.'_

Sōma looked up at the sky. He was admitted into Tōtsuki Culinary Academy, which was apparently the first step to surpassing his father. Now he just had to get the top spot. It shouldn't be too hard, since most of the other students never really worked in a real kitchen before. He looked around one last time. All the other students had left. The field was now empty. "I guess I should get going too."

* * *

 **OMAKE**

Ryō stared blankly at the new transfer student. In his head, he couldn't help but think what an idiot the kid was. He turned to say the same to Alice, but the look on her face stopped him. He recognized that look. It was the same look she had when she had met him back in Denmark. A very interested look she gave to things she wanted.

' _Is she…'_ Ryō questioned as he followed her line of sight. _'She is.'_

There was no doubt that she was staring at the transfer student as he walked off of the stage. Yukihira Sōma.

Ryō continued to stare at the kid until he was out of sight. Then his heart sped up and his eyes widened marginally as an idea suddenly hit him.

' _Wait a minute…'_ Ryō thought excitedly. Though no one by him could possibly tell just how excited he was by looking at his straight face. _'If I can get Alice interested in the new kid, she might make him her aide instead of me. Which means… Freedom!'_

Ryō then made a silent vow to make sure to get those two to meet as soon as possible. It was his only way out of Alice's metaphorical doghouse.

* * *

 **A/N: Well I hope you liked this one. It's a bit longer than my last chapter. And future chapters will get even longer. Hopefully.**

 **The omakes for this are a bit harder to come up with then I thought they would be. So if you have ideas, hints, or tips for them… I will hear them out in reviews or PMs. Your choice.**

 **By the way, I'm glad to see other people have an interest in this pairing. I have a few others in mind that I may try out. Sōma/Arato. Sōma/Ryoko. Sōma/Fuyumi. I like the odd pairings, in case you couldn't already tell.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I really wish Sōma and Alice had more contact with each other in the manga. So to make things a bit more interesting, I will be diverging a bit more from here on out. Just a heads-up.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

Alice hummed cheerfully as she made her way to class. This time she made sure to check Yukihira Sōma's schedule in order to "accidently" run into him more often. It was dreadfully easy to do so, actually. It wasn't just because she was the Academy's director's granddaughter, but also because of all the technological knowledge she had picked up at Nakiri International in Denmark during her spare time. Thanks to both of those factors, she had managed to get most of her classes to line up with Yukihira Sōma's.

"Are you ok, ojou-sama?" Ryo questioned quietly.

"What?" Alice glanced back in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Ryo glanced around slowly. All around them, the other students would look over before nervously shifting away. Usually, Alice would be a bit put out by this. It wouldn't show, but one could see it if they looked close enough. It had been like this ever since the middle school section. And it was only amplified after she had beaten the leader of the Cutting-Edge Cooking Research Society. Now, however, Alice wasn't paying them any mind at all. She seemed to be focused on something. But for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it could be.

"No reason…" Ryō mumbled.

"Come on, Ryo-kun!" Alice whined. "We're going to be late for class."

"But ojou-sama, you were the one who insisted on taking forever to get ready." Ryo said.

"Don't blame your master for wanting to look good." Alice pouted.

"Ok ojou-sama." Ryō said. He picked up his pace.

"Ah! Don't walk in front of me either." Alice complained. "You have to be behind me like a good aide in order to watch my back."

"Ok ojou-sama…" Ryō grumbled. He moved back behind her.

"Hmph." Alice pouted. "Well, it looks like we're here."

' _Finally.'_ Ryō thought gratefully.

Most of the other students in the room looked at the two in shock. Two, on the other hand, seemed to be preoccupied. One was a girl with long bluish hair tied in pigtails, Tadokoro Megumi, if Alice remembered correctly. And the other one was Yukihira Sōma. Alice smiled predatorily.

Ryō noticed Sōma right away. He glanced at Alice out of the corner of his eye and noted her expression. _'Him again, huh? Interesting.'_ He decided not to say anything and just walked over to the last empty station left in the back of the room.

' _Damn,'_ Alice thought as she made her way to follow Ryō, not even realizing that he had once again stepped in front of her. _'I should've gotten here sooner. Oh well, I can still get a decent look at his cooking from here.'_

Sōma didn't pay her, or anyone, any mind though. He was too focused on tossing an onion up and down.

"Man, I can't believe we're cooking on the first day of school. It already beats my last class. The last time I cooked in school was like in my home economics class. So dull." Sōma talked out loud to himself cheerfully.

All around him though, the other students glared. Sōma didn't appear to notice though. Alice, on the other hand, did.

' _So many enemies,'_ Alice thought gleefully. _'How are you going to deal with all of them?'_

"Oh," Sōma looked over, finally noticing that someone else was at his station. "You're… Tadokoro-san, right? What's up? Is there a reason you're eating the kanji for "person" like that?"

"Oh!" Megumi looked over in shock at being addressed by him. "Th-this is just so I don't get nervous… Or, something like that… You see, if I get another E, I'll be expelled."

"An E?" Sōma asked.

"The quality of your cooking is graded from A to E." Megumi explained. "Although it differs from class to class really."

"Huh…" Sōma nodded at the easy to understand explanation. "That's interesting. I didn't realize this elite school would have people like you here too."

Megumi grabbed her chest as though she were just stabbed.

' _Uwah… I can't believe this. Just when I was trying to survive quietly and steadily, to think I'd be paired with the transfer student of all people.'_ Megumi thought glumly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you regardless Tadokoro-san." Sōma said cheerfully. "I'm Yukihira Sōma. You can call me Sōma though."

"Uh, ok then." Megumi replied timidly. She was acutely away of all the glares Sōma, and by extension her, was getting from all over the room.

"Attention." A voice said loudly from the front of the room, garnering everyone's attention instantly. "Good morning, young apprentis."

An elderly gentleman walked stood in front of all of them. He had a stern face with piercing blue eyes that seemed to be constantly set in "glare to death" mode and swept back blonde hair. His outfit was a standard chef's uniform though with a red neckerchief on. All of the students that recognized him and knew his reputation immediately gulped in fear.

' _Oh yay,'_ Alice thought. _'This will make things even more interesting today.'_ She discreetly watched Sōma out of the corner of her eye as the man started to talk.

"You are all responsible for making delicacies from the moment you stand in a kitchen. For that, neither your experience nor your position matter. In my classes, if you cannot get an "A", you will receive an "E". Be sure to remember that." Chapelle-sensei said sternly.

Megumi wilted as if he had just said that she failed.

"Now then," Chapelle-sensei looked towards his notebook in disinterest. "Today's menu is Boeuf Bourguignon. A standard French dish. Although just in case, I shall write down the recipe on the white board. The time limit is 2 hours. Submit your dishes as soon as you are finished. Now start, commencez à cuire."

"Bouef… bour-wha?" Sōma asked.

"Sōma-kun, have you never cooked this dish before?" Megumi asked incredulously.

"Nope. It's sort of like a cow stew, right?" Sōma asked. "Well, we'll manage it somehow I guess. I'll go check out the recipe."

Megumi grabbed her head in despair. _'This is hopeless…'_

"Ojou-sama, I've finished the prep." Ryō said casually from her side.

"Oh?" Alice checked the table and saw that Ryō had managed to finish everything while she was preoccupied with observing Sōma. "Good job. Well, let's get started."

"Hm" Ryō grunted.

The both of them started to work. Neither of them said a word to the other as they quickly and efficiently made the dish. Within a short period of time, they got to the point where all they had to do was wait for the meat to become tender before boiling it with the sauce. Of course, they managed to get to that step before everyone else, even with Ryō lagging behind due to boredom.

"Oi Tadokoro! Check it out! They have so many seasonings here. It's amazing." Sōma's voice sounded out over the noise of the kitchen. It wasn't that loud, but it was loud enough to get Megumi's and Alice's attention. Alice glanced over subtly as she leaned against the counter. Megumi made her way over but just picked up a plate for the dish as Sōma continued to look over the available seasonings. Alice had to smile as she watched his enthusiasm. It was plain to see just how much he enjoyed cooking.

Ryō, on the other hand, checked out Sōma's station. They had finished reasonably fast, all things considered. Yet as he checked over the station, he noticed two other students walk over and subtly toss a bunch of salt into the pot. He checked to see if Sōma or Megumi noticed. Unfortunately for them, they did not. _'You shouldn't leave your station unattended. That's your fault.'_ He thought harshly.

"Ojo…" Ryō's voice trailed off as he checked on Alice. She was staring idly at the seasoning rack. At the same place Ryō had noticed Sōma standing not so long ago. She clearly wasn't paying any attention to anything around her. "Never mind."

Meanwhile, Sōma and Megumi finally made it back to their station. Sōma checked on the pot and noticed that the lid was slightly off. "Huh? Did you leave the lid open, Tadokoro?"

"Eh?" Megumi looked over in disbelief. "N-no. There's still 20 minutes left, after all."

Sōma looked around and noticed a couple other students chuckling while glancing over. _'Wait…'_ Sōma opened the lid and checked inside. The beef was covered with a lot of white powder.

"What?" Megumi stared at the contents of the pot with shock. "What is that stuff?"

Sōma placed a finger in to poke the powder and brought it to his tongue. "It's salt."

"W-why?!" Megumi cried out. "Wh-what are we going to do now?!"

Her cry brought the attention of Chapelle-sensei and Alice towards her. Though neither moved.

"Hm?" Alice looked over to see Sōma and Megumi looking down at their open pot. "Why would they open their pot now? There's no way that it's done."

"Two students threw salt into their pot." Ryō answered.

"What?!" Alice looked back at Ryō. "When? How?"

"It happened when they were away from their station," Ryō said blandly, uncaring at their turmoil. "They should have been paying more attention."

"Oh?" Alice looked around the room to find the culprits. "And who exactly did it?"

Ryō looked around before casually nodding in the direction of the students responsible. "Them."

' _I'll take care of them later then.'_ Alice thought severely. She wasn't sure why she was so mad. It was most likely just because they had just messed with someone she had plans to mess with. That had to be it. She looked back at Sōma's station. It seemed like they, or most likely just Sōma, had an idea. They had all the ingredients ready to make a new Beef Bourguignon. She checked the clock. There was only 30 minutes left. There was no way they would finish in time. Then she noticed that there was an extra ingredient at their station. _'Honey? That has preteolytic enzymes in it. Those will cut through the bonds that hold the amino acids together so the meat will tenderize faster. Not even Tōtsuki students learned that in the middle school section. How did you know that?'_

"Well then, all that's left is the sauce for us," Ryō said as he brought it over the mushrooms and onions he'd been sautéing. "It's time to simmer it all together."

"Right." Alice said. She started to help Ryō out. Before long they had both finished and walked up to turn it in.

"A." Chapelle-sensei said simply to the two of them.

"As expected." Alice said somewhat smugly as they walked back to their station.

"Hn." Ryō grunted in agreement.

After a few minutes, Sōma and Megumi walked in to turn in their dish. Alice observed them up until it was apparent that they had passed. They had even gotten a better reaction than her and Ryō. Although if she and Ryō had actually went all out in making the dish, it wouldn't have even been close. Still, it would have been almost impossible to get Ryō to get serious in a standard class such as this. She sighed softly. Honestly, he was just so much trouble.

Ryō glanced over, recognizing the tone of that sigh before snorting softly and turning away.

"Class dismissed!" Chapelle-sensei announced before collecting his papers and walking out.

Alice glanced over to see Sōma and Megumi talking. She frowned momentarily before turning away in a huff. "Let's go, Ryō-kun."

"Very well ojou-sama." Ryō followed dutifully behind her.

"By the way… I would like you to go and check on something for me in the records office." Alice sung out cheerfully.

"Yes ojou-sama…" Ryō replied with noticeably less enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, in another part of the building, an unfortunate Tadokoro Megumi was introduced to one of the items on Yukihira Sōma's top 10 worst foods list.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Well, it looks like we'll be partners today Yukihira-kun." Alice said cheerfully as she stood expectantly next to Sōma as they waited for Chapelle-sensei to arrive.

"Ah," Sōma nodded. "I'm looking forward to working with you."

' _For me, you mean…'_ Alice thought nefariously.

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, a fearful looking Megumi and a bored looking Ryō stood by their assigned station.

' _Oh no, to think I'm paired with Alice-sama's aide of all people.'_ Megumi thought worriedly. _'How did this happen?'_

' _Ah, freedom…'_ Ryo thought blissfully, though his bored expression remained on his face as he gazed out of the window. _'It sure is a bright day today.'_

* * *

 **A/N: I hope that you liked this change. After this comes the Maria of the Polar Star chapter. I'm debating on how exactly to add Alice into it. I'm also wondering how fast I should have their relationship develop. I think, most likely, I'll have them become more aware of each other during the training camp. Then… Well, you'll see.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This is going well, I think. I guess Alice and Sōma will be meeting in like every chapter now. I may have to add extra stuff inbetween classes maybe. Like being in class together, or eating lunch together, or a sleepover thing. It'll be fun, and cute. :)**

 **Also, attention, I now have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"The nerve of that man…" Alice murmured to herself angrily as she marched her way to the Records Office. All around her, students kept their distance as per usual. Some even more so once they took notice of the annoyed look that she had on her face. "How could I have forgotten about the orders?"

Shortly after the classes for the day had ended, Ryō had recalled that he had to pick up some items that Alice had ordered for the Cutting-Edge Cooking Research Society. It was regrettable, but in the end Alice had decided to send him to go and get those items instead of picking up the information she required from the Records Office. There was no way that she would lift all of those boxes and carry them into the research society's room all by herself. So now she had to go and check on Sōma's records herself.

' _It's probably for the best though,'_ Alice thought as she took another turn. _'_ _Ry_ _ō-kun would probably skip some details or just ask Yukihira-kun questions himself. I can't have that happening.'_

Alice hummed cheerfully to herself as she neared the Records Office. In just a few short moments, she would have all of the information she needed and then she could make her plan of attack to get Yukihira Sōma on her side. Or something like that. Her thoughts quickly derailed though as the door to the Records Office opened and she saw who she was just thinking about.

Yukihira Sōma.

"Oh!" Sōma exclaimed at the sight of her. "Er, you're Alice-san, right? I don't think I got your family name before."

Alice blinked, surprised at his reaction. After a moment, she answered. "You can just call me Alice-san, Yukihira-kun. I don't mind."

"Hmm?" Sōma hummed at her response. But he shrugged it off after a moment. If that was how she wanted it, he wouldn't argue. His time spent working at _Restaurant Yukihira_ taught him long ago that people had their own reasons for things and it was never a good thing to question them. That, and also that women were scary. He shuddered at the reminder.

Alice was relieved. For some reason, she really didn't want to give him her family name so soon. Even if it was only for a little while, she wanted Sōma to see her as just another person. If only to see just how different he would be once he found out who she really was, who she was related to. But hopefully that wouldn't be for a very long time.

"So what brings you here?" Sōma asked after a moment when it seemed like Alice wasn't going to say any more. He took the time to look over her again. She seemed the same as the first time they had met. Although now that he had more time to look her over, she seemed to be a bit happier than the first time they had met. He wondered why.

"Me?" Alice paused briefly to think of an excuse. "I was just walking around. I have nothing else to do now that classes are over for the day. What brings you here, Yukihira-kun?"

"I was looking for a place to stay," Sōma replied. "Apparently other students rented nearby apartments and commute from there."

"Mhm." Alice hummed thoughtfully. That was a bit of an issue. She herself didn't have that problem since her family owned Tōtsuki Culinary Academy. Still, she couldn't think of any places where Sōma could stay at if he wasn't going to be living in the apartments.

"So I'm going to the Polar Star Dormitory," Sōma said while holding up a piece of paper. "It seems to be the best option."

"The Polar Star Dormitory?" Alice questioned. That name certainly sounded familiar. But for some reason she couldn't recall how or why. Maybe she saw something in the school paper or in passing.

"So you haven't heard of that place either, huh?" Sōma asked as he opened the door for Alice. "I wonder why it seems to be so unknown."

"I'm not sure," Alice said as she walked through the door with a smirk at his thoughtfulness. "I'm free right now. I can accompany you there. You know, since you're new here and all."

"Oh?" Sōma smiled at her. "That would be really helpful. Thanks."

"No problem," Alice smiled back. This was going better than she had thought. "So where is the Polar Star Dormitory?"

"Uh," Sōma checked the map for a moment before pointing in a direction. "I think it's in this direction. Probably…"

"Give me that," Alice grabbed the map from Sōma's hands and took a look. "It is in this direction, actually."

"Oh?" Sōma took the map back and looked back over it. "Thank you. Should we get going then?"

"Of course." Alice smiled and walked in step next to him.

After 20 minutes of walking, Alice was bored. And tired, so tired. She couldn't recall ever walking this much since that time she had to walk to the pub where Ryō used to work. She had half a mind to call a chauffeur to pick her and Sōma up to drive them to the Polar Star Dormitory. But then if she did that, Sōma would know that she was a Nakiri. And she didn't want that to happen just yet. She stole a glance at him; he seemed to be just as tired as she was. And a bit annoyed too.

' _That makes two of us,'_ Alice thought as she looked around. The campus actually seems bigger, when one had no choice but to walk from one end to another. Still though, she sould complain too much. At least she had interesting company. "So what's with that thing?"

"Huh?" Sōma looked to what she was staring at. "My shichirin? Ah, it's my favorite type of tool. It's pretty versatile, you know?"

"It seems pretty cheap." Alice commented.

"That's a part of its charm," Sōma countered. "After all, it's light, easy to move, and compact. I can take it anywhere and make some pretty interesting things with it you know."

"Oh?" Alice raised an eyebrow questioningly as she gazed at the shichirin. "What kinds of things?"

"Maybe I can make them for you something for you later?" Sōma said.

"I'll gladly take you up on that offer, Yukihira-kun." Alice said cheerfully. She couldn't wait to try it, if only to see what kind of cooking he would make. It was certainly an interesting type of cooking. It was common cooking with a twist. A bit strange, but she enjoyed it.

"Still, this place is seriously huge," Sōma said as he looked at all of the buildings. There seemed to be mansions, domed buildings, and even a windmill. "What's with all of these places? Does a school really need all of these places?"

"Well they're all important," Alice said, going into lecture mode. "Tōtsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy is one of the best, if not the best, culinary schools in the entire world. It's a completely self-sustaining institute that has reach in almost every part of the world's greatest cooking spots. Every student who graduates from here is set for life, guaranteed."

"Huh…?" Sōma looked at her blankly. "This sure is a really amazing place."

"Did you not know about this place before?" Alice asked with a hint of skepticism in her voice.

"Ahaha, yeah…" Sōma said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

' _Just how clueless are you?'_ Alice thought disbelievingly. She didn't voice that thought though.

Soma stopped suddenly, causing Alice to look at him questioningly. He seemed really shocked. Alice followed his gaze inquisitively only to widen her eyes at what stood before them. It looked to be a refined, western-style house. Or at least, it used to be. There were vines growing all over the place, and there were crows flying all over the place. It actually looked like it could legitimately be haunted.

"Is that the dorm?" Alice asked Sōma hesitantly.

Sōma pointed to the sign. Alice stared at it. She had completely missed it while being distracted with the appearance of the place.

"Well, let's go in." Sōma said with a semi-forced smile on his face.

"You first." Alice moved back and let Sōma walk ahead of her, just in case.

They made their way towards the door and Sōma pushed the doors open. Once inside, they both paused and looked around. The inside certainly matched the outside. It was a bit dark too, though with the sun setting, it was to be expected. Suddenly they both noticed a lot of smoke coming from upstairs.

' _Is there a fire?!'_ Sōma and Alice both thought in shock as the smoke billowed through the hallway and into the main hall.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING ROOM 208?!" An angry elderly woman's voice yelled out from an intercom.

Both Alice and Sōma both stared at it in surprise.

"DID YOU GO AHEAD AND MODIFY THE LOUNGE INTO A SMOKING ROOM AGAIN?!" The voice yelled out. "DO YOU WANT ME TO MAKE YOU INTO SMOKED CHIPS?!"

Alice and Sōma both stared at each other in uneasily.

"Usako, Kamosuke, Shikanoshin! Don't leave your cages!" A new voice yelled out.

Sōma and Alice looked to the left and saw a multitude of different animals heading their way. They both jumped back to avoid being trampled as the ducks, chickens, rabbits, deer, and other exotic animals ran passed them while being chased by a young girl with teal colored eyes and amber colored hair tied neatly into two buns.

"AND ROOM 116!" The voice continued. ""DON'T KEEP ANIMALS IN YOUR ROOM! IF YOU DO IT AGAIN, I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE!"

"I'm sorryyyyy!" The girl wailed as she continued to chase her animals until they were all out of sight.

"Well, well…" A voice drawled from the stairs. "Do we have two students looking to join the Polar Star Dormitory at the same time? That's a first. I'm this place's dorm mother… Daimidō Fumio."

' _I'm at another weird place…'_ Sōma thought before taking a reluctant step forward. "Actually, it's just me taking the exam."

"Hm," Fumio looked over him. He didn't look like much. But for some reason, she couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling that she knew him from somewhere. She shrugged it off. It was probably just déjà vu. "So where are your ingredients?"

"Huh?" Sōma rose an eyebrow. "What would I need ingredients for?"

"That's obvious!" Fumio exclaimed with a flourish. "For the Polar Star Dormitory's specialty, the skill test!"

' _Ah,'_ Alice recalled the paper Sōma had shown her earlier. _'The entrance test for this dorm.'_

"What are you talking about?" Sōma cried out.

Alice shook her head at his obliviousness.

Fumio took notice, but deigned not to comment. She was curious of who this girl was, if not a student looking for a place to stay. Still, she had time to figure it out later if she needed to. "Then I suppose you lost by default. No one can enter the Polar Star Dormitory without having their skills checked."

"Wait," Sōma finally seemed to figure out where this conversation was going. "So that means that tonight I'll have to…"

"You'll have to camp out." Alice finished for him helpfully.

"HELL NO!" Sōma yelled at Fumio. "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE JUST HOW CHILLY AN APRIL NIGHT CAN BECOME!"

Alice bit her lip thoughtfully. This was a good chance. Maybe she should invite Sōma over to sleepover at her place. God knew they definitely had the room. She was sure he could stay there and no one would realize a thing for ages.

"Give up," Fumio stated. "There are only leftover ingredients in the kitchen anyways."

Sōma perked up at hearing this.

"You had some bad luck to-" Fumio said.

"Wait!" Sōma cut her off. "So I can use those ingredients?"

Both Fumio and Alice looked at him with curiosity. Alice looked at him with a bit more curiosity than Fumio.

"I'll take the test with those leftovers." Sōma proclaimed. "Where's your kitchen?"

Fumio turned around, giving them both a wordless signal to follow. They both followed her down the hall until they reached the kitchen. Alice looked around in interest. Despite the strange exterior, the interior honestly wasn't that bad. It was pretty homey, actually.

"Woah…" Sōma said, breaking Alice out of her thoughts.

Alice looked to see what Sōma was staring at and gaped in shock. The kitchen was a lot better than she had anticipated. It didn't match the rest of the dormitory at all. It was too nice, but for some reason it still seemed to fit in place in an odd sort of way.

"This is a pretty great kitchen," Sōma said as he looked over it. "I was expecting it to look as dreary as the outside."

"Listen," Fumio tried to get Sōma's attention. "I hate kids who bluff the most. Do you realize how many dishes I've tasted from students over the years? Do you really think I'll give an improvised dish a passing mark?"

Sōma didn't pay her any mind though. He had started walking around to kitchen to take stock of things. _'Let's see… There are some vegetables… seasonings… and…'_

"Yukihira-kun?" Alice asked from her place by the door.

"Yeah!" Sōma grinned. "This much is more than enough."

' _What?!'_ Fumio thought in shock.

Alice leaned closer to see what idea he had come up with. Unfortunately, she couldn't see just what he had seen among the assembled ingredients that gave him such confidence. Alice bit her lip in frustration. _'What is he planning to do with those leftovers?'_

"Polar Star Dromitory Mother, Daimidō Fumio-dono," Sōma said as he wrapped his white headband around his forehead. "Prepare yourself!"

Sōma quickly got to work. He got the onions, eggs, breadcrumbs, ponzu, salt, pepper, and mackerel together and started to combine them. Then, while working on that, he started to work on what appeared to be egg soup. Fumio looked on in shock as Alice started to smile once she figured out what he was planning. It took her a while, but after 30 seconds, she had figured it out. She had to give him credit for the squid. Even if it was luck that he had had it on hand.

In no time at all, Sōma finished. He placed the dish in front of Fumio proudly before looking at Alice apologetically. "Sorry, Alice-san. I would have made a sample for you too, but there wasn't enough ingredients for that."

"Huh?" Alice looked at him in shock before she felt her cheeks start to warm. She looked away to try to hide her embarrassment at his words. "It's fine…"

"Next time, eh?" Sōma grinned at her.

Alice felt her cheeks burn hotter as she merely nodded in response.

"There shouldn't have been even a speck of beef or pork left…" Fumio said quietly, interrupting them unintentionally. "How on earth did you make such a fluffy hamburger?!"

"I used canned mackerel," Sōma said as he held up the can for her to see. "This is a mackerel burger!"

"Canned mackerel?!" Fumio questioned incredulously as she prepared to take a bite out of it. "No way… That can't be… A hamburger made with canned mackerel would have a raw smell so strong that you wouldn't be able to eat it."

Alice sniffed slightly in disdain. She wasn't really a fan of mackerel. Ryō was though, but then again, he liked every kind of fish. No exception.

Fumio's eyes widened as she swallowed the piece of mackerel burger. _'Delicious… It has a fleshy feeling that doesn't taste like fish at all. If he had told me it was meat, I would have believed him.'_

Alice looked on in wonder at the dish. It wasn't that good at all. But when one looked at what he had to work with, it was amazing. She doubted anyone else in their year would have been able to make something at this class with those low class ingredients except for a few. Like herself, of course.

Fumio moved on to the soup and took a sip. Just like the mackerel burger, it left her gaping at in in surprise. "Wha… What is with this egg soup? The dashi is of high quality. How did you do this?! There was no kelp or anything that you could have used to make dashi with!"

"The dashi?" Sōma asked with a slight grin as he flicked the piece of squid in his mouth. "About that… I had some on hand luckily enough."

"You made dashi out of dried squid?" Fumio asked disbelievingly.

"That's right," Sōma stated proudly. "I call this meal… Yukihira style Improvised Mackerel Burger Meal!"

Alice couldn't help but sigh at that.

' _What a kid,'_ Fumio thought as she took another bite of the mackerel burger before taking another sip from the egg soup. This taste reminded her of an old memory. _'To think he could make something of this quality with leftovers. What a serene flavor… It's as if my body and soul are being slowly warmed by it…'_

"I think it's safe to say you passed." Alice said frankly after seeing Fumio's expression.

"Seems like it." Sōma said.

Suddenly, Fumio jumped up and embraced a scared looking Sōma as if she were about to kiss him.

"LET GO OF ME YOU OLD HAG!" Sōma screamed out in fear.

Alice was a second away from jumping in to help him out before Fumio seemed to remember herself and stepped back as though nothing had happened.

"Alright," Fumio started with a delicate cough. "Your room shall be room 303! I accept you into the Polar Star Dormitory!"

"It wasn't much!" Sōma said cheerfully as he unwrapped his headband with one fluid motion.

Alice clapped animatedly at his admission. "Congratulations Yukihira-kun~!"

"Thanks Alice-san!" Sōma smiled at her.

Alice looked away quickly. There he went again, making her nervous. That wouldn't do at all if she wanted to stand on top of him some day. "Well, I'll be going now. I'll see you in class."

Alice hastily made a quick retreat. Unknown to both Sōma and her, Fumio stared at her retreating back thoughtfully. She opened her mouth as if to ask Sōma something before he interrupted her.

"Alright! A bath, first it's time for a bath!" Sōma exclaimed before running out of the kitchen.

Fumio sighed in mock exasperation before going back to her meal. After a minute, she stopped suddenly when she remembered something. _'Oh wait… Isn't it the girls' turn to take a bath right now?'_

Upstairs, an unfortunate Tadokoro Megumi got reacquainted with Yukihira Sōma. She really was the most pitiable girl in Tōtsuki Culinary Academy.

Outside, at the same time, an oblivious Nakiri Alice looked back towards the dorm when a shrill shriek pierced the night. "Huh? Is that place actually haunted?"

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Man…" Sōma groaned as he sat down on a bench. "I can't believe the Records Office didn't know anything about the Polar Star Dorms… Now where do I live?"

"Need a place to stay?" A cheerful voice asked from behind him.

"Woah!" Sōma jumped up and looked behind him.

Alice stood there smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

"Oh, it's you Alice-san," Sōma said after he caught his breath. "Yeah, I need to find a place to stay, but the apartments are really expensive."

"Mhm," Alice hummed thoughtfully as she pretended to think of a solution before saying one that she had come up with as soon as she had heard that he needed a place to stay. "I have a place here. You could stay with me."

"Huh?" Sōma looked at her with hope. "Really? You mean it?"

"Of course!" Alice tried not smile too much. This was going perfect.

"Then I'll gladly move in with you." Sōma said while bowing in thanks to her.

"Yes!" Alice silently exclaimed.

"Huh?" Sōma looked back at questioningly.

Apparently she hadn't been silent enough. "Yes, that's good. Come on, we should go now. Oh, we'll have to share a bathroom with someone though."

"Is it that black-haired guy from before?" Sōma questioned.

"Nope," Alice replied. "Someone a bit more… Picky. You'll see. Oh, I can't wait to see the look on her face."

"Her?" Sōma asked.

"You'll see~" Alice sung out. "Now hurry up! Oh, and leave your honey-covered squid in the fridge. Don't worry, I won't eat it."

* * *

 **A/N: So now Sōma is a proud member of the Polar Star Dormitory. Should Alice worm her way into the dorm later? Maybe. I'm thinking about it. What do you all think?**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I decided to skip** **Sōma's first night in the dorm. It would have been exactly like the manga except for a few minor differences. So this chapter will pick up during the next morning.**

 **Also, attention, I now have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

The mornings at Tōtsuki Tea Ceremony and Cooking Academy are always beautiful. The sun always shines over the well-kept grounds. The birds will always sing in tune with each other over the buildings. A large amount of chefs get up early to start making breakfast, the scent of which would permeate throughout the hallways in the early morning. And in the Polar Star Dormitory this morning, Yukihira Sōma has gotten up extra early in order to prepare himself. A few hours later, the rest of the students of the Polar Star Dorms arrived downstairs to the dining hall only to pause at the sight if a revved up Yukihira Sōma sitting cross-legged on a chair facing the door.

"You told me it was postponed yesterday," Sōma said lowly. "So now… With the 7th Seat on the line… I CHALLENGE YOU! ISSHIKI-SENPAI!"

Nearly a full minute passed where everyone simply stared at each other, unable to react. Sōma looked at Satoshi questioningly, wondering what the holdup was. Eventually, Satoshi sighed tiredly before smiling slightly.

"I'm sorry, Sōma-kun…" Satoshi said. "I didn't explain enough last night. I never got to the part about Tōtsuki Academy's **challenges**."

"Challenges?" Sōma asked, hearing the added emphasis on the word.

"First, let's eat breakfast, shall we?" Satoshi asked.

The others had all sat down as soon as Satoshi started talking. They were now all lying down with their heads on the table, not hearing anything that was going on. Megumi stood slightly behind Satoshi as she looked between him and Sōma curiously.

"… Fine." Sōma sighed after seeing that the challenge and mood were apparently ruined.

"The food is ready!" Fumio called out as she walked in the dining hall with trays of food. She passed them out to everyone with Megumi's help. Everyone then sleepily thanked her before starting to eat. Sōma checked over his food before trying a bite.

"Oh!" Sōma exclaimed. "This is really good!"

"Heh," Fumio grinned as she took her seat next to Sōma and across from Yūki . "You didn't think I worked here just for my looks, did you?"

"Eh…" Sōma shrugged helplessly. Even he didn't have a response for that question.

"Hmph!" Fumo glared at him for a moment before turning to start eating her own food.

It was quiet for a few minutes with the exception of clicking utensils until Satoshi finally started to speak.

"The **challenges** at Tōtsuki were first established to settle disputes between students," Satoshi said slowly to Sōma. "There are some rules to them however. Sōma-kun, if you wish to challenge me for me seat, you have to present **compensation** that matches it in value."

"Oh?" Sōma tried to think about what he could give up in return. His bike? Or maybe some of his secret recipes?

"Let's see…" Satoshi stroked his chin in thought as he pondered quietly to himself. "If it's for the 7th Seat of the Elite Ten Council… Not even dropping out of the academy would be enough."

"Really?!" Sōma yelled disbelievingly.

"That's right," Fumio nodded in agreement. "That is the worth of the Elite Ten Council. In the past, a few of the students of the Polar Star Dormitory would make it into the Elite Ten nearly every year. One time, the entirety of the Elite Ten was composed of Polar Star students. It really was the Golden Age of the Polar Star Dormitory."

Sōma was only half paying attention, much to Satoshi's amusement. All of the others just kept on eating.

"You guys are miserable when compared to them!" Fumio finished angrily.

"Oh, come on!" Shōji complained loudly. "It's too early to hear your complaints Fumio-san!"

"Yeah," Daigo agreed. "At least one of us is in it, right? Just deal with it, Fumio-san."

"Well yeah…" Satoshi shrugged sadly before he continued where he had left off. "Of course, I could accept your conditions anyways just so we could compete. But in the end, I don't want you to leave this academy. So to put it plainly, your challenge just isn't feasible Sōma-kun."

"Seriously…?" Sōma asked dejectedly. "Man… And I even woke up at 5 a.m. just to rev myself up for it too…"

"Challenge the 7th Seat is just plain reckless, Sōma-kun." Megumi chimed after seeing that he and Satoshi were done talking.

"I think it's just stupid." Yūki added, rolling her eyes.

"It's not as if we could just go ahead and do it anyways," Satoshi said. "You need three things for a challenge."

Sōma perked up and started to pay more attention.

"One, an authorized person that can prove that the challenge is an official one. Two, an odd number of judges. Three, both parties agree on the conditions of the challenge. When those three conditions are met, then the challenge is arranged. **Shokugeki**!" Satoshi said with a slight grin on his face.

"Shokugeki…" Sōma repeated slowly.

"That's it," Satoshi grinned at Sōma. "Well, I'm sure you'll manage to do some others during your stay here anyways."

' _Ah…'_ Megumi thought glumly. _'Someone will want him gone enough to challenge him soon. Probably.'_

"That's it," Fumio said suddenly. Everyone looked at her in confusion until she pointed at the clock. Most of them shot up and started to run. Sōma, Satoshi, and Megumi stayed at the table though. Sōma looked at Fumio in curiosity. "It's almost time for your classes to start. You should get going."

"Oh?" Sōma quickly finished the rest of his food before running out of the door.

Megumi then got up and started to help Fumio with the dishes.

"You don't have to do that Tadokoro-kun," Satoshi told her. "I'll help Fumio-san out."

"O-oh?" Megumi blushed. "It's f-fine. I don't mind helping."

"It's no problem," Satoshi smiled. "After all, it's fine if I'm late for class. You should go get ready. Sōma may need your help today."

"Huh?" Megumi wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Just get going," Fumio said with a wave of her hand. "We can manage just fine."

"W-well, if you're sure…" Megumi then bowed before quickly leaving.

Satoshi smiled at her retreating form before turning to Fumio.

"What are you planning now?" Fumio asked quietly while picking up the dishes after making sure that Megumi was out of earshot.

"Huh?" Satoshi smiled disarmingly. He also started to pick up the dishes. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Fumio-san."

"Hmm…" Fumio stared at Satoshi until finally sighing. "Very well, we can leave it at that for now."

"Don't worry so much," Satoshi said. "I'm merely interested in seeing their growth. That's all."

"Just seeing?" Fumio questioned.

Satoshi just shrugged helplessly in response.

"Hmph," Fumio pushed open the door the kitchen and placed the dishes on the sink. She moved aside to Satoshi could also place his dishes in before continuing. "Did you know that another student stopped by last night?"

"Oh?" Satishi quirked an eyebrow. That was news. "I didn't see anyone."

"That's because she left right after Sōma-kun passed my the Polar Star Entrance Test." Fumio said. She turned on the sink and started to wash them while waiting for a response from Satoshi.

"You're being mean Fumio-san," Satoshi sighed in mock sadness. "Who was with him?"

"Alice." Fumio stated.

"Alice?" Satoshi parroted.

"How many Alice's do you know?" Fumio asked lightly.

"At this academy?" Satoshi asked rhetorically. "Just one."

"Interesting, isn't it?" Fumio asked. She didn't turn away from the sink. But she could feel the curiosity rolling off of Satoshi in waves.

"Hm," Satoshi chuckled before turning to leave. "Thank you for the info, Fumio-san."

"If you find out why, be sure to let me know." Fumio replied.

"But of course." Satoshi smiled. He then left the kitchen and started to walk up the stairs to the balcony.

' _Sōma-kun and Alice-chan? Now there's a strange yet interesting combination. I wonder how it came about…'_ Satoshi thought before shrugging disinterestedly. He was sure he would find out eventually. From what he knew, neither of those two were subtle people.

* * *

"We're here, Ojou-sama." Ryō stated blandly once he and Alice entered the arena. It was packed with students who were psyched for the Shokugeki taking place today. Even though it was early, everyone wanted to be here to see it. It was always a treat to be able to see Nakiri Erina cook. And no student would ever want to miss such a thing.

"I can see that Ryō-kun," Alice said with a sigh. "Really, you don't have to announce obvious things like this."

"Really?" Ryō asked. "Sorry Ojou-sama."

"Ugh," Alice shook her head in mock dismay. "Whatever, it's fine. So who is Erina facing today?"

"The Chanko Hot Pot Research society," Ryō said. There was a very slight sneer in his voice; he didn't show much reaction outwardly though. "They're a Research Society that has done pretty much nothing for a few years now except brag about their glory days."

"Oh?" Alice looked over them in thought. They didn't look like much. They all jeered at Erina as if it would help. "I see. I guess Erina decided to make that into a new building for her to cook in."

"Probably." Ryō said with a nod.

"That is so like her. What a kid." Alice said with a smirk on her face.

Ryō nodded. Inwardly though, he thought that that was like the pot calling the kettle black. However, he learned long ago to not talk back. So he kept his thoughts to himself.

"Huh, is something wrong Ryō-kun?" Alice asked him after not hearing a reply.

"Nothing at all, Ojou-sama." Ryō replied.

"If you say so~" Alice smiled disarmingly at Ryō before turning back to look at the Shokugeki.

It seemed to be going under way. There was just the standard big talk going on currently. There was nothing too interesting. The leader, a 2nd year called Kiyoshi Gōdabayashi, had stepped up and called Erina out for being a villain. Erina, of course, paid him no mind and shot him and his Research Society down.

"This will go just as expected," Alice said after seeing them start to cook. The second they had started to prep their ingredients, it was plain to see there was no way that Kiyoshi could win. Erina was being fast, thorough, and accurate. Kiyoshi, meanwhile, was being slow, messy, and negligent. "How boring…"

"Isn't it?" Ryō asked while yawning. "Why did we even bother coming?"

"Hey!" Alice glared at him. "Don't question your master."

"Very well, Ojou-sama." Ryō said apologetically.

"Hmph." Alice turned back to the match.

"Ojou-sama…" Ryō said after a few minutes.

"What is it, Ryō-kun?" Alice asked.

"Why were you late coming home last night?" Ryō asked.

Alice turned to look at him. Ryō wasn't looking at her. He was focused on the match. Even if it was a poor match-up, it was still a match. It would keep his interest, however little. Still, the fact that he had bothered to ask meant that he was more than a little curious.

"Just showing a student around," Alice said disinterestedly. "It wasn't much."

"Was it the transfer student?" Ryō questioned.

"Does it matter?" Alice snapped back.

Ryō waited a bit before replying. "I guess not."

Alice sighed before replying reluctantly. "It was."

"I see." Ryō said.

Alice waited to see if Ryō would continue his line of questioning. Luckily, he did not. She liked that about Ryō. He would never question too much. Sure, he would get annoyed easily and loved seafood far too much. But besides that, he was loyal and indulgent. He wouldn't question her too much, and would give input only when the situation required it. This wasn't one of those times, so he wouldn't care until something happened or if something was about to happen.

"It's finally over." Ryō said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Alice focused in on the stage. Sure enough, Kiyoshi was on the ground with Erina standing before him triumphantly. She had her phone in her hand and Kiyoshi looked like he was about to cry.

"Oh my," Alice gasped. "Did Erina really call for the Chan RS to be demolished as soon as the match ended? And in front if it's leader too? How cruel."

The slight mirth in her eyes showed that this concern was entirely false.

"Shall we go now, Ojou-sama?" Ryō questioned as people started to get up and leave.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Alice said. She got up and started to walk out.

"By the way, we need to start putting out fliers for the Cutting-Edge Cooking Research Society. Among other things…" Ryō reminded her.

"Oh yes," Alice nodded. It was about time for that. Now that the new school year had started, it was the optimal recruiting time. While she was sure there wouldn't be anyone worth letting in, it wouldn't hurt to put some feelers out there. "I'll design some things. Ryō-kun, you'll be in charge of putting them in good places."

"Very well, Ojou-sama." Ryō said impassively.

"Don't you feel like today will be a good day?" Alice asked with a smile as she opened the doors to the outside. A breeze blew by, blowing her hair into her eyes. She pushed her hair out of the way and gazed out. All of the students were rushing to class. Among them, she saw a flash of a familiar red-head. "Let's get going. There are so many things that need to be taken care of before I face Erina in a Shokugeki for her Seat."

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Shokugeki, eh…?" Sōma asked himself aloud.

"Shokugeki?" A familiar voice asked from right next to him.

Sōma spun around and saw Alice looking at him inquisitively.

"Oh!" Sōma smiled at her. "Hey Alice-san. How are you?"

"I'm fine." Alice said dismissively with a wave of her hand. "Did I hear you say **Shokugeki**?"

"Yeah," Sōma nodded. "I wanted to have one with my senpai, but apparently it's not possible. I was hoping to have one."

"Hmm." Alice looked thoughtful for a moment before smirking slightly. "Does it have to be with that senpai?"

"Huh?" Sōma asked, not seeing where she was going with that question.

"How about you have a Shokugeki with me?" Alice asked charmingly.

"Well, it would be good experience…" Sōma muttered under his breath. "Yeah, sure. Let's do it!"

"Great!" Alice clapped her hands together delightedly. "What should we wager?"

"Wager?" Sōma asked. "Well, you can decide that."

"Really?" Alice's eyes widened. Inwardly though, she was doing a happy dance. "How about the loser has to be the winners slave for a day?"

"Is that what you want?" Sōma asked in surprise. "Well, I guess that wager is fine with me if it's fine with you."

Alice had to try her hardest to not start cackling evilly.

* * *

 **A/N: This is kind of shorter compared to the last chapter. I'm sorry. But like I said before, or I think I said before, this story is going to be following the manga. Chapter by chapter (to a degree). So the lengths will always vary, sometimes by a lot, depending. I'll probably be adding random chapters of random things to change things up. Like a breather. Holidays, events, and other things. We'll see how it goes and what my mood is at the time.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So… I'm sorry that this took so long. Things came up. Anyways, it's out now. Ikumi has made her appearance. And Alice is as curious as ever. Ryō and Megumi are being dragged along, as usual.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"Research societies?" Sōma asked Megumi as they both stared at a bulletin board with a lot of flyers on it. Classes had ended for the day so Sōma and Megumi decided to take the long way back to the dorms to better explore more of the academy. Though honestly, it was because Sōma had managed to drag Megumi along with him and she was far too kind to say no. So now they had stopped once Sōma noticed a bunch of flyers on the bulletin board with pictures of some tasty looking foods on them.

"Yes," Megumi nodded as she looked at some of the other flyers on the bulletin board. "There's a whole bunch of societies in Tōtsuki that specialize in different types of cooking. After school, they develop new dishes or participate in cooking contests with each other. I suppose you could liken it to clubs in normal schools. I'm actually a part of the Local Cuisine Research Society myself."

"Hmmm…" Sōma hummed thoughtfully as he gazed at the flyers. One of them caught his eye with its bright colors and strange looking foods. "The Cutting Edge Research Society?"

"Oh?" Megumi looked over at the flyer. "That's the Research Society that focuses on Molecular Gastronomy. It's food science."

"That's interesting," Sōma looked over the flyer and noted the room number before moving on. "I may need to stop by. I wonder… Oh? A Don Research Society? I've been wanting to make a new don dish. Let's go, Tadokoro!"

"M-me too?!" Megumi asked disbelievingly. Regardless, she hurried after Sōma.

"Oh," Sōma stopped suddenly, causing Megumi to almost run into him. "Well, you don't have to if you're busy."

"O-oh… It's ok," Megumi smiled. "I don't really have anything else to do today. So I don't mind coming along with you."

"Really?" Sōma asked before quickly smiling and turning around to continue on. "Thanks Tadokoro!"

"Yeah, n-no problem S- Sōma-kun." Megumi blushed and started to follow him again, this time with a bit more distance between them.

Around them, several students glared at Sōma as he and Megumi passed them by.

* * *

"Hmph…" Alice pouted as she looked out the window down at the grounds below. She was getting bored just thinking up of new dishes, so she decided to look outside to see if there was anything she could play around with. And just when she saw the answer to her prayers, an annoyance showed in the appearance of Tadokoro Megumi. It appeared that she and Sōma were heading off somewhere within the building. They were looking at the bulletin board earlier, so she guessed Sōma was looking to join a Research Society. She half hoped that he would join hers, but she could tell just by looking at him that it wouldn't be his style. Such a pity.

"Ojou-sama?" Ryō asked her hesitantly.

"Yes Ryō-kun?" Alice turned around to look at him.

Ryō was staring down at the table in boredom. There were a few textbooks off to the side that looked really worn out. They were all written in another language, and the pages were frayed and bent. One was open to a page with a picture of what appeared to be a fish dish. Ryō turned to look at Alice. "Is there a problem, Ojou-sama?"

"No," Alice sighed and moved back to the table to sit down. "I was just thinking about something."

"Oh." Ryō looked back down at the table.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I was thinking about?" Alice questioned indignantly.

"Would you tell me even if I did ask you that?" Ryō asked back.

"That's not the point!" Alice slammed her hand on the table, wincing a bit at how hard she had done it. "I'm your master! You're supposed to look after my well-being, Ryō-kun."

"Ah." Ryō nodded.

"You…" Alice huffed angrily. "Honestly, it's like talking to a clam."

Ryō didn't respond, instead choosing to wait out Alice's irritation. It was pretty much his best option right now. He grabbed a book and pulled it over, opening up to a random page. He absentmindedly started to read it while Alice glared at him.

"Honestly…" Alice pulled out her smartphone and started to check it to see what was going on around Tōtsuki. There didn't seem to be much. There was a rumor that the Donburi Research Society was going to be offed by Erina soon though. That was a bit interesting. But honestly, after the first few Research Societies got dismantled by Erina, it had started to get boring to even see the Shokugekis involved since the outcome was obvious. "There's nothing new…"

Ryō glanced over at her before going back to his book. After a few minutes, he sighed and got up. "I'll make you some tea, Ojou-sama."

Alice smiled slightly, not that Ryō could see it. "Thank you, Ryō-kun. But I think I'll go for a walk for a bit first. Just bring it to me when you're finished, ok?"

"… Very well, ojou-sama." Ryō said after a moment.

Alice got up and quickly skipped out of the room while Ryō started to make the tea.

* * *

"I think this is the place, Sōma-kun." Megumi said as they walked towards a door.

"Thanks for leading the way, Tadokoro." Sōma said gratefully.

"I-it was n-no problem, Sōma-kun." Megumi stammered while moving out of the way so Sōma could walk in first.

Sōma pushed open the door and walked inside with a smile on his face. Though that smile quickly vanished and his eyes widened in shocked as he looked around the room. What was supposed to be a Research Society room instead looked like an old forgotten classroom. There were papers and notebooks all over the ground, chairs appeared to be missing, and the room seemed to be covered in a fine layer of dust. To top it off, there appeared to be a ghost sitting on a chair in the middle of the room with a pompadour style haircut and a pencil mustache.

Sōma and Megumi looked at each other in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but go back…" The ghost in the middle of the room said sadly. "Soon, the Don Research Society will be shut down."

"Eeeeeeeeeeh?!" Sōma and Megumi yelled out in shock.

"Oh, pardon me…" The ghost sat up a bit straighter in his chair, though its hair drooped further. "I'm this place's chief. My name is Konishi Kanichi, a Second Year student in the high school section."

"Are you ok, senpai…?" Sōma asked hesitantly. "You look sort of depressed or something."

"Hehehe…" Kanichi chuckled humorlessly. "Go ahead and laugh at me, I couldn't even protect the Don Research Society…"

"Oh?" Megumi glanced away and noticed a notebook on the floor with Don Research Society written on it in large letters. She bent down and picked it up. "Isn't this… a recipe compilation?"

"Can I see?" Sōma asked.

Megumi handed it over to him. "It seems like this has a bunch of dishes that the Don Research Society thought up of."

"Let's see here…" Sōma murmured as he flipped through the notebook. Almost immediately, he could tell that the notebook had recipes of incredible quality. Some of them, even he never would have thought up. There went from mainstream to eccentric, traditional to foreign. Regardless of the type, all of the recipes had an incredible amount of thought and time placed into them.

"These are all great dons!" Sōma exclaimed as he continued to flip through the notebook. "Why does the Don Research Society have to be shut down?"

Kanichi's eyes widened with new life and his hair suddenly stood up, fully erect, much to the shock of Megumi who took a step back in fear.

"You understand…" Kanichi said slowly before rushing over to grab a surprised Sōma with both hands. "You understand, Yukihira!"

"You're crying?!" Sōma yelled back at him.

"Dons are fast, tasty, and cheap. The beauty of the casual dining style! Manliness completed in one bowl. Truly, it is a men's meal for fighting men! As a single man, I cannot die without fully mastering Dooooooooons!" Kanichi finished with a really loud yell and flourish.

"He's a really passionate person, isn't he?" Megumi whispered to Sōma.

"Ah," Sōma whispered back. "But in a little bit of an annoying way."

"Damn it…" Kanichi muttered dejectedly. "My Don Research Society is… If only Nakiri Erina wasn't at this academy…!"

"Nakiri Erina?!" Sōma asked, completely surprised.

"That is how Narkiri Erina operates," Kanichi explained dully. "First, she cuts the budget or proposes the reduction of the Research Society that she doesn't like. After forcibly getting the approval to do such a thing, the Research Society's situation will gradually worsen until the only option they have left is to turn everything around at once with a Shokugeki. Then Nakiri puts even more absurd conditions to accept the Shokugeki and makes everything goes the way she wants. By doing all of that, she continues to gain more and more influence at Tōtsuki."

"Huh," Sōma leaned back against the wall in thought. "That's sort of impressive."

"Sōma-kun…" Megumi whispered softly while gesturing discreetly at Kanichi.

"Huh?" Sōma looked at Megumi before following her finger to look at a super depressed looking Kanichi. "O-oh… My bad…"

"The Don Research Society's members all ran away as soon as they found out that the opponent this time will be one of Nakiri's subordinates."

' _This guy is really unpopular!"_ Sōma thought callously as he regarded Kanichi, whose hair had gone back down to its original droopy look.

"So…" Sōma began conversationally. "Just who exactly are you facing in the upcoming Shokugeki anyways, senpai?"

"That is-" Kanichi began to say before a loud noise brought all of their attentions to the door.

The door slammed open and a bunch of construction workers swarmed into the room and began looking around. Some carried notebooks, others rulers, a few even had hammers. A few of them thoughtless stepped on the Don Research Society's notebooks as they walked around the room while doing their thing. A fellow student, by the look of things, walked in after all of them. She had blonde hair and tanned skin, definitely a rarity in Japan. She also wore a plaid skirt and her shirt was tied in a way to show off her midriff and a bikini top with the American flag design. There was a sheath around her thigh for a knife and a scarf around her other thigh. She looked around carelessly, tapping her choker thoughtfully before frowning slightly.

"It's as we thought. This room is far too shabby to bother remodeling it. It would be better and faster to just destroy it completely and rebuild it from scratch just like we did with the Chan Research Society." One of the workers stated to the new girl.

"Is that right?" She asked uninterestedly before shrugging. "Alright, do that then."

"Wha-what exactly are you trying to do? Mito?!" Kanichi yelled at the new girl.

"Huh?" Ikumi rose an eyebrow at Kanichi. "Well… I came to check in early to get a preview. After all, the results are already pretty obvious."

Kanichi was about to retort before Ikumi's hand flashed out and slammed the wall next to his head, causing him to yelp slightly. "However, if you're confident that you can beat me, then the story will be quite different… Right, Mr. Chief?"

"N-no… Ehehehehehehe." Kanichi stammered out.

"Keh… What a gutless man," Ikumi said harshly. "No wonder your members ran away with a leader you in charge."

"Damn Nikumi…" Kanichi muttered.

Before anyone could react, there was a flash of silver. In the next instant, there was a butcher knife in Ikumi's hand and half of a pompadour styled haircut on the ground. Kanich looked down and screamed in shock at the sighed before looking back up at what was left of his hair and screaming again, even louder.

"If you call me that one more time…" Ikumi ground out slowly while clenching her butcher knife. "I will kill you."

"No way!" Megumi gasped. "Mito Ikumi-san is his opponent?!"

"Huh? Who is she?" Sōma asked.

"Her name is Mito Ikumi-san. A chef known also known as the **Meat Master**. In the middle school section, she was always one of the top scorers. Her meat dishes were always her specialty. She never got below an A in a class that had to do with meat. I doubt that there is any other student at Tōtsuki who knows more about meat then her." Megumi explained.

"Interesting…" Sōma said while checking her out. That was definitely an impressive record.

"You're hindering this, so just leave. You can come back in an hour." Ikumi said rudely.

"Wha?!" Kanichi took a step back before stammering back. "Th-the match isn't settled yet though."

"I told you it was obvious, didn't I?" Ikumi said. "Even Erina-sama thinks so. Dons are nothing more than a B-Class gourmet vulgar dish. Something like that isn't needed at Tōtsuki. This is a place for elites. You and your Don Research Society just don't cut it. No matter what dish you decide to make, I will beat it with my meat."

"Is that a fact?" Sōma said monotonously. "I think prioritizing one ingredient over every other ingredient is a disgrace for a chef."

Ikumi and Kanichi both turned to look at Sōma in shock. Sōma walked up to them and stood in-between them before placing a hand on Kanichi's shoulder and staring resolutely at Ikumi. "Hey Senpai… Do you mind leaving this Shokugeki to me?"

' _I was worried that something like this would happen…'_ Megumi thought forlornly from her spot away from everyone else.

"… What's with you?" Ikumi asked in confusion. "Outsiders should just stay out of this…"

Ikumi's eyes widened when she suddenly recognized the guy standing in front of her. "Wait a second… You're the transfer student! The guy from the opening ceremony... Heh, I wanted to try talking with you at some point actually. But to think that you would try to butt in on someone else's Shokugeki. You must be pretty confident in your skills, at least."

"You can say that," Sōma grinned. "If you want, we can even battle with your specialty. Meat dishes. Either way, I'm sure that I'll win."

"Oh?" Ikumi narrowed her eyes at Sōma. "Well then… If you lose to me… Will you leave Tōtsuki?"

Sōma glared back while off to the side, Megumi bit s lip in worry.

"Keh!" Ikumi stepped back. "If you don't have any guts, then don't bo-"

"Yeah, that's fine with me!" Sōma cut in.

Ikumi turned to look at Sōma in shock.

"But then, let's see..." Sōma crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "If I win… Then you have to join the Don Research Society."

"Huh?!" Ikumi gaped at him.

"Huuuh?!" Kanichi and Megumi parroted after her.

"You'll have to join the Don Research Society and contribute to help develop the Don's culture," Sōma explained. "This will be how you apologize for all of the trouble you have caused."

"You really… Plan to win against me…" Ikumi grinned suddenly before turning around and marching out of the room. "We're leaving now!"

The contractors stopped what they were doing and all followed Ikumi out of the room. After they had all left, Ikumi turned and looked back at Sōma from outside of the door. "The main ingredient will be **meat** , the dish to make is a **don**. The time and date of the match will be the same as before, in three days."

Ikumi then turned and walked away. Had Ikumi turned around, she would have seen another student, one with white hair and white skin, staring after her in thought with a slight smirk on and a cup of tea in hand. Alice had been there a while, after following discreetly behind the contractors to see where they were heading, since she knew that they would lead her to the place where Erina was planning to destroy next. And, by total coincidence, it had led her straight to Sōma as well. Alice then leaned against the wall and kept on listening to what was going on inside of the room currently while taking a sip of the tea that Ryō had made for her.

' _I'm going to look forward to a Shokugeki for the first time in a long time.'_ Alice thought to herself gleefully as she decided to make some plans to prepare for the event.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"So this is the Cutting Edge Research Society?" Sōma asked out loud as he walked in.

"Oh!" Alice waved and smile at Sōma from her place by the window. "Good day, Yukihira-kun."

"Oh!" Sōma grinned and walked over to her. "Hey there, Alice-san. You're a member of this Research Society?"

"Mhm," Alice smiled indulgently at Sōma. "Yeah, something like that. So what brings you here today?"

"Oh, I was just looking at Research Societies. I saw the flyer of this one and thought that it looked interesting so I decided to stop by." Sōma explained.

Alice preened at his unintentional compliment. She was the one who had designed the flyers. She knew that they were amazing, but having validation sure was nice.

"So I take it you wanted to join, right?" Alice asked.

"Uh, not really. I just came to take a look." Sōma laughed.

"What?!" Alice shouted. She then got up and walked over to the fridge. After searching for a few seconds, she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a tray filled with an assortment of different looking treats and placed them on the counter. "Come here. Eat these."

"Huh?" Sōma looked at the food in interest. He had never seen anything like these before. "Well, alright…"

Sōma took a lick of one and gasped at how delicious it tasted. "What is this?! It looks like a lollipop but tastes like BBQ Beef!"

"Right?" Alice smirked. "If you join the Cutting Edge Research Society, you can eat food like this every day."

"But…" Sōma started to say before Alice shoved another treat in his mouth. This one looked like sushi but tasted like chazuke. "Ok, I'm in!"

"Of course you are." Alice stated.

* * *

 **A/N: So here it is. The next chapter should have the Shokugeki in it. At least, that's what I think right now.**

 **How many of you loved the latest chapter of the manga? It definitely fueled my desire to write a fan-fiction about Sōma and Rindō (the current 2nd Seat of the Elite Ten Council). I mean, seriously. She said she was interested in him, and then she got them both a seat at Eishi's (the current 1st Seat of the Elite Ten Council) booth. I mean, that's totally setting them up for a date. I can't wait to see what happens there, and what food Eishi makes. Depending on how it goes, that fan-fiction between them (Sōma and Rindō) may come out sooner than I had thought. Though, it will most likely be a one-shot by the looks of things unless Rindō makes more appearances in the manga around Sōma. She's really cute too. Fangs, slit pupils, easy-going, and random. I mean… I'm going to stop talking now. I'll just keep thinking of things I shouldn't say because it would spoil things. lol**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So apparently some of you didn't like the last chapter. One person even didn't like the whole story. So… Whatever. About the last chapter though, I wanted this to be as true to canon as possible. But, it looks like the last chapter came too close. I made subtle changes. The dialogue was changed so it wasn't a copy, there were added thoughts, my own way of descriptions, Alice's presence (of course), and changes with what was noticed and said. My original goal was to make the big changes at the training camp and have the story deviate from there, but I'll be starting to deviate more now.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

Sōma drummed his fingers on his knee in impatience. This class was super slow. It was a cooking theory class. Honestly, he had no clue why he was even in it. There wasn't anything said so for that he didn't already know from his work at _Restaurant Yukihira_ before starting at Tōtsuki. Though, as he looked around, it was pretty obvious that most of the students were impressed by what they were hearing the professor say. It was honestly a bit sad. He knew for a fact that he had learned of of this this already from a book he had seen in his old man's room when he was still in primary school.

' _Seriously though, why wait for an instructor to tell you something when you can just do it yourself and taste the results?'_ Sōma thought exasperatedly. This school was extreme in some ways and rather dull in others. So far, he was pretty sure he was toeing the middle line amongst the students here. He scratched his head and leaned back in the chair while stifling a yawn as the professor turned around and started putting some sort of diagram on the board.

The look on his face was pretty telling. Another student in the class took note of it in interest.

Alice smirked slightly from her spot behind Sōma. So far, Sōma had not turned back once. It was a bit annoying, but it was to be expected. This was a pretty boring class so far. She heard that it would be more interesting near the end of the year with the partner project, but that too far away to even think about now. After the Staigare Period. The main reason she had taken this class was because Ryō had wanted to take a seafood class. They couldn't decide exactly what class to both be in. The cooking contest they had wagered the class on ended in a tie as well. So in the end, they both went their separate ways. It didn't matter that much. Some time apart would be good. And now, there was an added bonus. Yukihira Sōma was here. Half of her wondered why he would take this class. The other half of her didn't care since at least now she had entertainment.

Sōma shuddered suddenly. _'Huh? I thought I just felt something pretty ominous… Oh well, probably just a breeze or something.'_

Sōma turned his attention back to the teacher once the diagram was finished.

"Now copy this down everyone," Malfroid-sensei said after sitting down at his desk. He was an American cook. Sōma didn't know anything about him, but based on what he had just heard, this guy definitely knew how to combine ingredients in interesting ways. Already, he had a few ideas for new recipes. Though he was pretty sure it wasn't what the teacher was looking to happen based on the strange diagram on the board. He had absolutely no idea what it was supposed to represent. Sōma half-heartedly copied it down just in case it was relevant. "I want you all to think about what this represents, and how it can matter to almost any type of cooking."

Sōma tuned him out again. This class was getting boring now. To make matters a bit more unbearable, there wasn't even a single other student from the Polar Star Dormitories in the class with him. At least if Tadokoro were here, he could talk to her a bit about his upcoming Shokugeki. But she was in a different class right now, and afterwards she would be with her Local Cuisine Research Society for a while. And he couldn't do much more anyways until after Kanichi was done with his classes for the day. As it was, he couldn't really start cooking until night time. He still had no clue what he was going to do until then. He closed his eyes in thought.

Alice discreetly sighed at how easy this class was. Although, she couldn't help but smirk at a few of the other students who looked absolutely lost. They would all definitely be sent home during the training camp, if not sooner based on their grades. This class was another one that sent a lot of people home. It didn't come close to Chapelle-sensei's class; no other class did. At least, not in the first year courses. She inconspicuously turned her cell phone on behind her notebook and decided to check the online Tōtsuki News Bulletin Board. It was pretty informative, a bit too slow for her liking, but informative nonetheless. It seemed to be pretty normal. The only real piece of interesting news was Sōma's Shokugeki with Mito Ikumi. Yet again another thing she already knew. This, however, included a poll that showed the odds were 100% in Ikumi's favor. She risked a glance at Sōma. He seemed to be staring at the board rather intently. He didn't seem to be worried about the Shokugeki at all. She looked back at her phone and impulsively clicked on Sōma's name to cast a vote in for him. Now there was a sliver on the pie chart with his name next to it. Alice nodded in satisfaction.

"Now then, class is dismissed. Please remember to find a partner by the end of the month. The sooner the better." Malfroid-sensei than turned and exited the room. Most of the other students were taken aback by his swift exit. A few were expecting it. Professor Malfroid wasn't a very social person. He was the mad scientist type that liked to stay in his laboratory, on in this case, his kitchen. Alice could certainly respect that.

Alice stretched a bit while keeping an eye on Sōma. He hadn't gotten up yet, though half the class was already gone. She got up and walked over to him only to pause briefly in disbelief. He was asleep. And quite skillfully too. If she wasn't in front of him, she would have thought that he was awake based on his posture. Alice glanced at his open notebook to see what kind of notes he was taking. Eyeing it, she couldn't tell what it was. It certainly didn't seem like anything she had seen or heard in the class so far. She was about to grab it to take a closer look when Sōma suddenly woke up.

"Huh?" Sōma looked around slowly before finally noticing Alice standing right next to him with an indignant look on her face. "Oh, Alice-san. Long time no see. I didn't realize that you were in this class."

' _That makes you the only one.'_ Alice thought humorlessly. Everyone else in the class had definitely noticed her. They all had made a point of it by not sitting next to her. It didn't matter though. They would have been needless distractions anyways.

"So class is over, huh?" Sōma said needlessly. He couldn't think of anything else to say though. Alice hadn't replied and she seemed to be lost in thought.

"Yeah," Alice said after a moment when she realized that Sōma had kept talking. "When did you fall asleep anyways? I couldn't tell."

"Eh," Sōma looked down at his notes. "I think after I copied down the diagram."

Alice took another look at his notes. It sure didn't look like a diagram. "I see…"

"Well, no use staying here if everyone is gone," Sōma stood up and yawned loudly before walking towards the door. "What're you up to now, Alice-san?"

"Me?" Alice asked in confusion as she followed him out. "I was just going to go back home. Why?"

"Well I have some time to kill before Kanichi-senpai gets out of his classes. Would you like to hang out for a bit?" Sōma asked. He held the door open for her and then started to follow her.

"I suppose I have nothing else to do today," Alice lied. She actually had a lot to do. Nakiri family stuff. Still, should probably manage to scrape by later if she tried hard. This was too good a chance to pass up. Especially since the odds were that Sōma would be leaving after his ill-fated Shokugeki with Ikumi.

"Great! I'm going to be making some dons to test out. Tadokoro is busy with her Local Cuisine Research Society, so I could really use a taste tester." Sōma said in relief.

"Oh," Alice narrowed her eyes at him. "So you just want me to give you my opinion on your dishes?"

"Well, that and I owe you some of my cooking," Sōma replied. He smiled suddenly. "But if you're not in the mood for a don, I could always make you a special item from _Restaurant Yukihira_. Free of charge as a special classmates discount."

Alice turned to hide her reddening face. Just when she thought she was going to snap at him, he went and said something like that. He really was an annoying guy like Erina said at home. "Maybe another time when I can enjoy it more." Like after he managed to win his Shokugeki.

"Hmm," Sōma nodded in agreement. "That's fine; we'll save it for a special occasion then."

"So," Alice had to change the subject. If her face got any redder, she was sure that even Sōma would notice. "I suppose I can try a few of your dons out."

"Great!" Sōma grabbed her hand and started pulling her. "Then let's go."

Alice was glad that the hallway they were in was empty now. Anyone else would have easily seen just how flustered she was. As it was, all she could do now was hope that they didn't meet anyone on their way to the Don Research Society's room. That, and plan on her excuse to leave later before Tadokoro and Kanichi showed up and told her real identity to Sōma. She would definitely tell him herself later. At some point.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Sōma asked after she took a bite of the don he had made.

Allice chewed thoughtfully. While she may not have **God's Tongue** , she knew food. Plus, she knew Ikumi. The answer was obvious. "It's no good. The taste is cheap and the impact is dull."

"Really?" Sōma groaned. "You've said that for four dishes now."

"Sorry," Alice shrugged before pushing the don back towards him. "I'm full now though."

Sōma glared at the don as if it had betrayed him.

Alice couldn't help but giggle at his face. Despite how funny Sōma was, he took cooking very seriously. He was definitely a maverick. Despite that, he didn't seem to have the right experience needed to beat Ikumi. He definitely had the experience though. She could tell as she watched him cook. The way he could quickly prepare ingredients, how he would quickly make a dish after glancing at the recipe, and the confidence he showed when cooking. There was no doubt, he knew what he was doing and wasn't afraid of making mistakes. It was a bit strange though.

' _Where could he have gotten this good outside of Tōtsuki?'_ Alice thought as she watched him glumly eat the don she couldn't finish. _'There's no way that his small family diner could have prepared him this much.'_

' _Now what should I do?'_ Sōma thought as he took another bite of his latest don and thought about what Alice had said. _'It's true that that this don tastes cheap. Still though, it's good. I guess that the judges would want something more to their tastes though… I can't make a regular don. I need to reinvent it.'_

Sōma glanced over to see Alice staring at him. "Are you ok?"

Alice huffed at his response. "Of course I am, Yukihira-kun."

Sōma raised an eyebrow at her. That response seemed eerily familiar for some reason. Now that he thought about it, she certainly reminded him of someone. He couldn't tell who though.

"Just checking," Sōma said. "So what do you think I should do?"

"You need to find a way to get better ingredients, I suppose." Alice said after a moment of thought.

"You think so?" Sōma glanced over at the open notebooks on the counter. "I don't think it would have much meaning to win using her own style."

"What?" Alice stared at him.

"Mito thinks that the only way for a dish to be good is to have the best ingredients," Sōma explained. "But that's wrong. Even a bad ingredient can surpass a good ingredient if it's prepared well. If I'm going to beat her ideal, I need to use my ideal against her."

"That's a rather simplistic view." Alice couldn't help but agree with Ikumi, at least to some degree. Still though, Sōma had somewhat of a good point. She knew a chef in the past that could make anything delicious. An old cook who worked at their mansion and also used to be a student at the academy. She hadn't seen or heard from him since she left to Denmark though.

"I don't like to complicate things." Sōma said.

Alice snorted delicately in response.

"I guess I do a bad job at that, huh?" Sōma laughed.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter as long as you win." Alice said with a tinge of worry.

Alice glanced over at the clock. It was almost time for the Second Year's classes to end. She would have to leave now.

Sōma took notice of her glance and expression. He pushed the don towards the sink. "You have to leave now?"

"Unfortunately," Alice sighed and got up. She risked another look at Sōma. He seemed to be put out by her having to leave too. That made her a bit happy. "Your dons aren't bad. But they need to be more. Everything at this academy has to be more."

"Thanks for your advice," Sōma said gratefully. "I really appreciate it. After I win the Shokugeki, I'll save a portion of my winning don for you."

"You're quite confident," Alice smirked at Sōma's bravado. "I'll be really mad if you lose now after saying that to me."

"There are more reasons for me to win now, I guess." Sōma smirked back.

"I'm looking forward to seeing that," Alice turned and started to walk out. Right before she exited, she stopped and turned around. "I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Ah, I'll see you." Sōma waved her off.

Alice shut the door and started to walk back home. She pulled out her phone and noted the several missed calls. She would check them later though. For now, she had to walk off the dons she had just eaten.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Have you realized something yet, Sōma-kun?" Satoshi said lowly as he stood in front of Sōma.

"Huh," Sōma looked back at Satoshi unflinchingly. "What are you talking about, Isshiki-senpai?"

"There's something I need to tell you." Satoshi glanced around to make sure they were alone. It seemed that they were.

"Oh?" Sōma looked around to see what Satoshi was looking for. There didn't appear to be anything there.

"Yeah, this is something you need to know if you want to survive here at Tōtsuki." Satoshi looked back at Sōma after he was satisfied that no one was around to hear this.

"What's that?" Sōma questioned.

"Everyone is mad here." Satoshi stated.

"… What?" Sōma stared at Satoshi .

"Everyone is mad here," Satoshi repeated. "The teachers are mad, the students are mad. Even you and I are mad. Ryō-kun, especially, is very mad."

"I-I don't understand." Sōma said in confusion.

"That's because you're mad." Satoshi looked at Sōma with empathy.

"But I'm not!" Sōma cried out.

"Then why are you even here?" Satoshi asked. "I'll tell you why. It's because you're mad. And we're all mad here."

Sōma had no retort for that.

* * *

 **A/N: The Shokugeki was not in the chapter like I said it would be in the last chapter. Still, I hope that you liked the** **Sōma/Alice interaction that happened in place of it. Also, yay for Alice in Wonderland. I feel that Satoshi is a lot like the Cheshire Cat. He even hides and disappears.**

 **Please feel free to give me your honest thoughts on what you think of this fan-fiction. They do help me grow as a writer, after all. Some people just really suck at constructive criticism… Anyway, I do admit that those of you who felt and said that the last chapter was too close to canon were correct. Some scenes, in the future, will have to be like that because they're fundamental to the plot. But I will endeavor to make sure that I don't waste too much of your reading time when it comes to stuff pertaining to that.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	8. AN

_**A/N: Yes, the dreaded author's note chapter… Well, it's not so bad though. This is just an announcement.**_

* * *

 _ **Next month, on Halloween, I'll be posting a special one-shot fan-fic that has nothing to do with this story. It will be a really long one, hopefully (I'm aiming for 5K-10K). Well, I'll be doing it in my spare time from now until then.**_

 _ **Here's the general premise:**_

 _ **There will be a Halloween Party at the Polar Star Dormitory.**_

 _ **Almost everyone will be in costumes.**_

 _ **By the end of the chapter, Sōma and some other character will get together (Rated T or less).**_

* * *

 _ **Now the problem is the timing of it. Obviously, Halloween is in Autumn. However, in the manga, there is the Autumn Elections (prepare for it during summer vacation, roughly a week between the quarter-finals and semi-finals and finals), Staigaire Event (takes place several days after the Autumn Elections), the Autumn Leaf Viewing (almost right after the Staigare Event) and the Moon Banquet Festival (two weeks after the Autumn Leaf Viewing). Halloween has to take place in-between these events.**_

 _ **So pretty much, I was wondering where you think Halloween should fall and your costume ideas for the students. I already have some ideas, but I'd love to hear yours. Depending on after what arc Halloween takes place will determine what characters may and may not show up.**_

 _ **Oh, and also, there's the girl that Sōma will be paired with. It could be anyone (provided that they had made an appearance in the manga before the day of Halloween). I'm open to anyone but Erina and Megumi because those two are the main possible pairings in the manga (or most likely, I should say).**_

* * *

 _ **Let me know your thoughts and ideas in reviews or PMs. Only review in this chapter section though, because I'll only be checking those. I'll be posting final decisions that I come up with in the end of chapter A/Ns as time goes on until Halloween.**_

 _ **Thanks for everything. Expect the new chapter for Crossing Boundaries during the weekend.**_


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: The Shokugeki is finally here? Will Sōma beat Ikumi? Or is the Donburi Research Society yesterday's leftovers? You'll find out if you read this chapter. :)**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"Looks like we're all set…" Sōma muttered to himself as he gazed at the ingredients and tools he had specifically chosen for this Shokugeki. There was no more time to second guess himself. To be honest, he was sure that this was the best he could do. The only thing that could potentially ruin his chances was if Ikumi managed to make her rice coexist with her A5 meat. He took a deep breath to calm himself before closing the lids on the coolers. He carefully picked one of them up. "Well, are you guys ready?"

"Yeah," Kanichi grabbed a few coolers. He was still really nervous about the Shokugeki. Yet he had managed to keep himself composed enough to not slump down and admit defeat like he had the day they had first met. It was an amazing improvement. The past days spent trying out Sōma's dons had managed to up his confidence about this whole thing. Still though, he gulped nervously as the time to the Shokugeki was quickly ticking down. "It looks like we're good to go."

"Yes!" Megumi eagerly picked up the remaining bags and moved to stand next to Sōma. It was hard to tell if it was to be supportive or to hide behind him before they walked onto the stage. On the plus side, she had finally managed to stop pacing and praying.

"All right!" Sōma grinned readily at the two of them. "Then let's go win this Shokugeki."

Sōma started walking down the hallway. Megumi and Kanichi quickly followed behind him. Already, all of them could hear the noise and feel the vibrations caused by all of the students in the stands. It was evident that the stadium was pretty full. Sōma wondered if this was their equivalent to sporting events, since the Tōtsuki didn't appear to have any sports teams. It would sort of make some sense.

"Do we have sports teams?" Sōma asked them randomly.

Both of them started at his bizzare question at such a bad time.

"U-uh," Kanichi had to gather his thoughts before he could reply. "No? I mean, why would we? This is a cooking school."

Megumi nodded in agreement.

' _Yet we have windmills, camping areas, giant gardens, laboratories, and livestock in the weirdest places…'_ Sōma thought sardonically. Still though, at least it couldn't get any weirder at Tōtsuki than this.

"Are you ready?" Kanichi asked Sōma hesitantly. They were nearing the entrance and Kanichi's skin was starting to look paler the closer that they got to it. From beyond their sight, they could hear the announcer describing the events and what was about to happen.

"I was born ready." Sōma stated confidently. Inwardly though, his mind was in another place entirely. He glanced around as if expecting someone to pop up out of nowhere. No one was in the hall way with them though.

Megumi didn't have time to say anything or comment on Sōma's distractedness because they had finally reached the entrance of the arena. As soon as they cleared the threshold, both she and Kanichi moved as if to hide behind Sōma.

The light momentarily blinded all of them. Once the spots cleared from their vision, they could see all the students sitting or standing all around them. Kanichi and Megumi seamed to shrink in on themselves. The boos directed at Sōma seemed to be effecting them too.

"What's going on here?" Kanichi asked Sōma in total confusion. "It's like everyone in the stands is out for your blood."

"Huh," Sōma looked around curiously. "I'm not sure."

Megumi really wanted to say something, but stage fright had hit her hard.

Undeterred by what was going on around them, Ikumi started to confidently walk up towards Sōma.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Erina asked coldly. Behind her, Hisako had stopped and stared in surprise.

"Whatever do you mean?" Alice smirked as innocently as she could. It wasn't much, and it did little to appease Erina. "I heard there was an interesting Shokugeki going on today, so I wanted the best seat possible."

"You could just sit with the commoners like you usually do." Erina retorted. She made a move as if to walk away but stopped at the sight of Alice pulling her phone out of her pocket triumphantly.

"Nuh uh!" Alice denied. "I can go where I want. I'm a Nakiri too, after all. That spot isn't just for Elite Ten members you know. Besides, I got grandfather's permission beforehand because I knew you'd be as difficult as ever."

Ryō discreetly looked the other way at that last statement.

Alice gleefully showed her phone to a shocked Erina. Erina could only stare at it in dismay. Their grandfather had indeed said that Alice could go wherever she wanted as long as it wasn't off limits. Unfortunately, the place in question was such a spot.

"E-Erina…?" Hisako asked timidly. She would normally have been more verbose to whoever would dare talk to Erina in such a fashion. But this was Alice. Her cousin. There was next to nothing that Hisako could do to her, and both of them knew it.

"Hpmh," Erina flicked her hair and turned around sharply. Very well, you may do as you wish."

"Don't I always?" Alice asked mockingly. She had to fight not to laugh at the obviously irritated Erina. "Well, that's settles that. Let's get going, Ryō-kun."

"Yes, ojou-sama." Ryō intoned before dutifully following behind her. He regarded both Erina and Hisako inquisitively. They seemed worth fighting. Erina especially. Hisako didn't seem that worth it though. She was content with her station. That just wouldn't do. Erina was the real big fish in the current generation at Tōtsuki. Someday, they would fight.

"Ryō-kun!" Alice yelled angrily into his ear all of a sudden.

"Yes oujou-sama…?" Ryō absentmindedly rubbed his now numb ear and turned so that his good ear was facing Alice.

"I asked you if you were paying attention." Alice pouted.

"I was, ojou-sama." Ryō said.

"Then what did I say last?" Alice asked.

Ryō racked his brain to come up with the right answer. He hadn't been paying attention at all. There were three possible choices. Molecular Gastronomy, the transfer student, or Erina. Given the situation, it was either the transfer kid or Erina. That gave him a 50/50 shot. Not good odds. "You were saying… We should hurry so we don't miss the Shokugeki?"

"Mhm…" Alice stared at Ryō probingly. "Close enough."

Ryō silently let out a sigh once Alice had turned around.

They both reached the viewing area above the Shokugeki arena just as Erina had sat down. Erina glanced at them before turning to look down at the proceedings. Hisako chose to stand behind her and keep an eye on Alice and Ryō for the time being. Alice shot her a mocking smile before turning to look down at the arena. Almost immediately, her wine red eyes connected with a warm golden and she smiled benevolently.

* * *

"Is that?"

"How?"

"Why would they come here?"

"What's going on!?"

"The both of them?!"

Sōma and Ikumi both stared up at the viewing area in shock while the crowd went wild. Both for different reasons though. Ikumi was focused on Erina. Sōma, on the other hand, could only stare curiously at Alice. Their eyes met immediately and Sōma couldn't help but reflexively answer her smile with one of his own.

' _What is she doing up there?'_ Sōma thought briefly before an answer hit him. _'Ah, she probably just wanted the best view. Man, I should sit there next time there's a Shokugeki.'_

"Why would they both come to this Shokugeki?!" Kanichi stared at Alice and Erina in total shock.

"Huh?" Sōma turned to look at Kanichi. "What are you talking about?"

"ATTENTION!" Urara yelled out angrily in order to quiet down the rowdy students in the stand, effectively drowning out Kanichi's response. They immediately shut up. "Thank you… Now then, will everybody who is not taking part in this Shokugeki please get off the stage? Now then, contestants to your positions! Remember, whoever loses will lose everything today. Shokugekiiiiiiiiiii START!"

Sōma glanced at Alice one last time before moving into position.

* * *

"What brings you here anyway?" Erina asked Alice once the match started.

"No reason." Alice answered flippantly.

Erina's eyebrow twitched angrily at Alice's answer.

"It's unlike you to come to such small scale Shokugeki's, Alice-sama." Hisako said once it looked like Alice wasn't going to answer Erina.

"I was bored and had nothing better to do." Alice was looking down at the stage, completely focused on Ikumi as she started cutting her A5 beef. She did note that Sōma didn't seem even half as impressed as the rest of the students watching though. A fact that made her chortle internally.

Erina took notice of her staring and smiled smugly. "I wasn't aware that you were interested in the people I plan to add into my faction.

"Is that what you think?" Alice snorted. "Oh, don't worry. I may be looking, but I don't really care. In the end, they will lose to me too."

"Because of what you learned while in Denmark?" Erina questioned. "You put too much faith in your **food science** that you neglect the basics."

"Why worry about the basics when I've mastered the intricacies of food preparation?" Alice asked confidently. "Your way of cooking is too old fashioned. Don't worry Erina, you'll see that I'm right once you and I have a Shokugeki."

"I'll look forward to it," Erina turned to look back at the match. Down below, the uproar had finally died down once the crowd had seen what Sōma had deigned to bring to the match. "Cheap supermarket meat? Hmph, as expected from a backwater diner chef."

Alice's finger twitched at Erina's harsh remark. Outwardly though, she managed to appear calm. She was totally glaring at Erina in her mind though.

Ryō glanced at Alice momentarily before looking back down at the match. It was definitely a step up from the other matches he had seen since arriving at the academy. And this two seemed to be evenly matched in terms of skill. Ikumi may have a lead because of her A5 beef, but that didn't matter too much. What really mattered was the finished product. And right now, it was hard to tell which way the vote would fall. Ryō leaned forward to get a better look.

Erina and Hisako started talking about Ikumi's skills. Alice paid them half a mind. Inwardly, she was thinking back to the past two days she had spent helping out Sōma. She didn't have enough time to help out much; still, she felt that she had managed to give Sōma enough food for thought to give him a fighting chance. The don he had made for her yesterday was leagues above what he had first served her when they started brainstorming. If he kept improving as much as he usually did, then he should have a don that could beat Ikumi by now.

"It looks like they should be done soon, ojou-sama." Ryō said with a bored tone of voice.

Alice focused on Sōma. He seemed to be smiling. At the very least, his cooking would likely finish without any mistakes. That was good. "So what do you think?"

"It depends on the judges," Ryō said indifferently. Seeing that Alice was about to ask again, he rephrased his answer. "But from what I saw, the transfer student has a better shot at winning."

Alice tried to get a better look at their dons. Unfortunately, both of them had already been covered up. Ikumi started to walk up with her trays and confidently placed them in front of the judges. The judges immediately uncovered them and looked down at the don in surprise. Alice's eyes narrowed at what she was looking at. The don appeared to be flower made of meat on top of rice.

The judges appeared to be very favorable towards the don. They ate it eagerly and couldn't stop commenting on it. Within moments, the meat was all done and they started to eat the rice. Alice didn't pay any attention to their comments or actions though. She was too busy wondering what Sōma would present and if he managed to complete the ideal don that he had been thinking of yesterday. She figured it would be ok. If Sōma could make Chapelle-sensei smile, he could definitely impress these judges.

"Did you notice ojou-sama?" Ryō asked Alice.

"Huh?" Alice turned to look at Ryō.

Ryō stared at her for a moment before looking back down at the judges. "Look at the bowls that Mito gave them. Do you see what's wrong?"

Alice turned to look at the bowls and immediately noticed what Ryō was talking about. There was still a lot of rice left in the bowl. That was a huge embarrassment for a chef. She turned to look at Erina. Based on the expression on Erina's face, she too had realized what had just happened and was not pleased at all at what she was seeing.

Sōma finally moved forward and placed his bowls in front of them. They slowly opened them before gazing in surprise at the don in front of them. Alice couldn't blame them. The don looked just as good as Ikumi's don, in a different sort of way. The judges tentatively took a bite. As soon as they swallowed, they kept going with no signs of stopping.

"Seems like that's that," Alice said smugly while turning to smirk at Erina. "What do you think, dear cousin?"

Erina didn't rise to the bait. She kept glaring down at the judges table.

Below, the judges had quickly finished Sōma's don in less than half the time they took eating Ikumi's. The outcome was obvious, but the validation was still sweet once they had all hit the button signifying that their votes had all been casted in Sōma's favor. Sōma smirked and whipped off his headband while saying something. Alice got up at the same time as Erina. Both of them started to walk in opposite directions. There was nothing more to be said between them now.

"Vacate the kitchen that we gave her, Hisako." Erina said sternly.

"Right away, Erina-sama." Hisako jotted down the note on her planner.

Alice took one last look at the exuberant Sōma before smiling and leaving the room.

Down below, Sōma noticed her exit and quickly said goodbye to Kanichi and Megumi before leaving the arena. There were questions that he needed answered. Like how to get to that room she had been sitting in.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Are you drooling over there, transfer student?" Ikumi asked mockingly. She was standing next to her A5 beef like a proud mother. And she did indeed have a lot to be proud about.

"Eh?" Sōma seemed unconcerned. If anything, he looked like he was awfully smug. Behind him, Kanichi and Megumi were both struggling to push something out onto the arena.

"Huh?" Ikumi looked at the thing they were carting in. It was a a stand that looked a lot like hers. It was also covered in a tarp just like her A5 meat. A familiar scent tickled her nose. But this time, it was coming from their side of the arena. "No way…"

"Ha!" Sōma yanked off the tarp with a flourish. Underneath it laid his very own A5 beef.

"What?!" Ikumi and the entire crowd of spectators yelled out.

In the very back of the stadium, a student by the name of Mimasaka Subaru stared in complete shock. To think that there was another student at Tōtsuki who did Shokugeki's the way he did. This required further investigation.

"You're not the only one with A5 beef, you know." Sōma smirked at Ikumi's stunned expression.

"B-b-but h-how…?" Ikumi stammered out in shock. She recognized that cut of meat. It came from her father's company. It was a special order, so special that not even she could get it for this Shokugeki. How on Earth could this transfer kid from a simple diner afford such a thing?

Up above, in the viewing area, a very smug Alice crossed her arms and smiled. "All according to plan."

* * *

 **A/N: And there you have it. The Shokugeki is over with. Of course Sōma won. lol**

 **Next up is… Either the day before/of the training camp or another Alice and Sōma hanging out day. I'm still thinking about it. Honestly, don't expect much Alice/Sōma to happen until near the end of the training camp. Just a heads-up, for those of you who are impatient. Relationships don't just happen, people usually become friends first.**

 **Ah, and as of right now… These are the votes for the pairings of the Halloween Special I'll be posting next month.**

 **Alice – 3**

 **Hisako – 2**

 **Ikumi – 2**

 **Kurase – 1**

 **Rindō – 3**

 **Ryoko – 2**

 **I've only been getting votes for after the Autumn Leaf Viewing, which I was hoping to do anyways. So that means the Elite Ten will possibly be in the fan-fic and the girls who are a part of the Elite Ten are potential love interests for Sōma. So the voting on the time period is done.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: Doesn't it suck when people say you're wrong about something you wrote when you published your story a long time before the reveal came out to the public? Well, whatever… The manga has taken an interesting turn, I can't wait to see what happens next.**

 **The pole for the romantic interest in the Halloween Special is finished. The results for it are at the end of this chapter. It went sort of how I expected.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

Sōma yawned tiredly as he walked over towards his cooking theory class. He had spent the whole night partying with some of the other members of the Polar Star Dormitory. It lasted almost until the sun rose. It was worth it though. Fumio-san had brought in some good stuff to celebrate. Apparently it had been a while since a Polar Star Dormitory resident had had such a good Shokugeki showing, especially against an opponent who was regarded as being obviously superior. Not since the golden age with Asura, whoever that was.

Students rushed passed him in their attempt to get to class on time. Sōma continued his leisurely pace towards the class. He could already see the door from where he was. He still had a few minutes to make it. Plenty of time. From his spot, he could just make out a student sitting in the very back near the door. A student with snow white hair and pale skin. Sōma narrowed his eyes in thought at the sight of her.

After the Shokugeki, he had tried to chase Alice down to talk to her. He hadn't seen her outside of class after the day that she had stopped by to help him try some dishes for the Shokugeki. Just when he was about to go and ask her about why that was, he couldn't find her. To be more exact, he had gotten lost. The building was ridiculously big. He had searched for almost 15 minutes before finally giving up. Now, he was going to ask her what was going on back then.

Sōma walked in just as Malfroid-sensei came in through the side door. The professor glanced up at Sōma with an appraising look before quickly looking back down on his desk to jot something down. Sōma didn't notice this though; he was busy pulling a chair out and sitting in it while lightly staring at the girl who was now next to him.

"Yo, Alice-san. Did you enjoy the Shokugeki yesterday?" Sōma questioned with a small smirk on his face.

Alice turned and face him slowly, slightly shocked at Sōma's nonchalant manner in sitting next to her.

Sōma couldn't be quite sure, but he felt that there was something a lot different about her. There was a look on her face that seemed out of place. He couldn't tell why though. He had only sat next to her and asked her a question. Maybe he should have said hello first.

"Hey?" Sōma said questioningly after a moment.

Alice turned back towards the board and rested her head in the palm of her hand, strategically using her fingers to cover a growing smile on her face. "Congratulations on winning, Yukihira Sōma-kun."

"Thank you." Sōma said sincerely, though his growing smirk did nothing to hide his preening at her words.

Down below, Malfroid-sensei had started to lecture. Neither Alice nor Sōma paid him much mind though. Alice jotted down notes when needed and Sōma only started paying attention closely when the professor mentioned something interesting. Besides that, the class continued on like that for a while.

"Neh, Yukihira Sōma-kun?" Alice asked quietly once Malfroid-sensei had his back turned to put some more diagrams on the board while explaining the history of fusion cuisine and the dynamics behind it.

"Hm?" Sōma turned to glance at her discreetly. "What's up, Alice-san?"

"I was wondering… What do you think would happen if you and I opened a restaurant together?" Alice asked quietly. She didn't look at Sōma at all; she focused all of her attention into her notebook as she absentmindedly wrote something in it that Sōma couldn't see.

Sōma's eyes closed in thought as he briefly mused over her sudden question. He smiled suddenly and answered. "Well, we'd be world-renowned I bet."

"Obviously," Alice scoffed. She smirked in approval at his response though. "That wasn't what I was thinking about though. What would we name it?"

"Name it?" Sōma drummed his fingers on the desk thoughtfully. " _Sōma's and Alice's Super Awesome Diner_."

"No." Alice rolled her eyes. "If we did do something that crazy, it should be _Alice's and Sōma's Super Awesome Restaurant_."

"Tch," Sōma thought harder before replying. "How about _The Maverick Troll's Restaurant_?"

"Really?" Alice sighed. "Well, I suppose that's interesting… A bit."

"You try!" Sōma whispered agitatedly while looking down at the desk when the professor looked their way. "Don't you have any ideas?"

Alice pushed her notebook towards him stealthily.

Sōma pulled it closer and glanced down at it before his eyes widened in shock. The page was full from top to bottom with names. "W-what? When did you have time to do all this?"

"Huh?" Alice looked at the page before shrugging nonchalantly. "It only took a couple of minutes."

There was absolutely no way that she was going to tell him that she had been up all night thinking about it because she couldn't sleep after the idea had entered her head. She was up until 3 A.M. thinking about it for some reason.

" _Alice and Friend_?" Sōma said in a deadpan tone after reading an entry. "Seriously? It doesn't even have my name in the title."

"I'm sure that more people would prefer me to make their meal for them than you." Alice said seriously. A slight twitch of her lip gave her amusement away though.

"I think you and I are going to need to have a Shokugeki to figure out who the head cook of this restaurant is going to be." Sōma said while tightening his headband on his wrist.

"Gladly." Alice leaned forward and smirked. She made sure to cross her arms under her chest to add some emphasis to her statement.

Sōma gulped suddenly. He wasn't sure why he did that though. All he knew was that Alice was a bit too close for comfort. He didn't let it bother him though, although he couldn't stop the flush that was creeping up his face. He coughed lightly and looked back down and Malfroid-sensei. "Uh, we'll plan the date for later, ok?"

Alice blinked at his choice of words before smirking. Her heart sped up a bit at his response though. She didn't let it show and instead replied teasingly. "Oh? It's a date now, is it?"

"Stop it!" Sōma hissed quietly while covering his mouth when Malfroid-sensei had turned to look back at the class. Sōma waited until he was back at the board before replying. "You know what I meant! The date for the Shokugeki! Just the Shokugeki."

"Are you sure?" Alice questioned.

"I'm sure," Sōma took a deep breath before looking back at Alice. "You're dangerous."

"You have no idea." Alice twirled her left bang slowly between her fingers.

"Oh," Sōma looked as though a light bulb had just turned on above his head. "That reminds me. Why were you with Nakiri yesterday?"

"Erina?" Alice's heart skipped a beat at his sudden change in direction. Still, it didn't faze her outwardly at least. Being a Nakiri had its perks. One of those was being able to remain calm under almost all circumstances. The blood demanded it, since anything less than perfection is viewed as a disgrace. Of course, some family members took that more seriously than others. "I just wanted a good seat to see your Shokugeki, so I convinced Erina to let me sit with her."

"I figured as much," Sōma nodded, easily accepting her answer. "Next time, take me there with you. I bet the view is amazing."

"Mhm," Alice hummed thoughtfully. It would be nice to have someone other than Ryō-kun to talk to. Sōma certainly had some interesting commentary on things. "Ok, next time there's a Shokugeki, I'll bring you there and we can watch together."

"Thank you," Sōma grinned gratefully. "You're the best, Alice-san."

"Y-yeah," Alice smiled and looked back down at the notebook between them. She tried to distract how happy those words had made her by rereading the restaurant ideas she had written down there. It wasn't often that she would get flustered. Yet around Sōma, it happened a lot. She was sure it was mainly because she was hiding what family she was a part of from him so she couldn't be her true self exactly. She really was going to tell him, but it didn't feel like it was the right time yet. Maybe she would tell him after the Training Camp. For now, it was nice being able to receive a compliment that wasn't from her family or someone who wanted to be viewed favorably by her family. "You're welcome, Yukihira Sōma-kun."

They continued to make small talk and write new ideas on the notebook page between them until class ended. They learned what they needed to know. Malfroid-sensei hadn't said much new to their ears. Alice had learned all of this stuff in her youth at the Nakiri Mansion. Sōma, on the other hand, could have sworn that he had figured this stuff out as a kid from reading some old cook books in his dad's room.

"You know, we should probably start our project soon." Alice stated as they walked out of class. She absentmindedly noticed other students looking at the two of them while whispering obviously. She turned to look at Sōma's response, yet he was just looking back at her, not paying anyone else any mind.

"Yeah," Sōma agreed. He hadn't thought of the project at all since it was announced during the first day of class. He was too busy focusing on how to beat Ikumi. Now though, he really should focus on school. Not getting kicked out was great, but it would really suck if he flunked out instead. "When would you like to start?"

"Let's see…" Alice thought about it. There was some time before the Training Camp started, but if they started it before that, then it would be hard to get back into it afterwards. Then again, after that would be summer break, then the Autumn Election, and a bunch of other things. Honestly, she was starting to see why the cooking theory class wasn't so well liked. The partner project that spanned the whole year got in the way of all of the events at Tōtsuki. It was hard to focus on those events while doing the project in the background somehow. Still, she was certain they could handle it. Especially after seeing Sōma's performance at the Shokugeki. "How about we just do some research on our own for now? We'll talk more about it after the Training Camp."

"Huh?" Sōma looked confused. "What camp?"

"You don't know?" Alice couldn't tell if she wanted to sigh or laugh. "It's… Well, I'm sure you'll find out soon. I won't spoil the surprise."

"Come on, Alice-san…" Sōma put his hands together and bowed slightly. "Please tell me."

"Hm…" Alice tapped her chin with her finger while gazing at Sōma. After a moment, she smiled and nodded. "Fine, fine… I'll tell you. It's one of the first big walls here at Tōtsuki."

"A big wall?" Sōma asked. "Why a wall?"

"Because people have to get past it," Alice explained. "It's a five day program where all of the first years will go and train. Of course, if you can't keep up, you'll be expelled."

"Oh?" Sōma chuckled. "It seems like the whole reason this academy exists is to just expel people."

"I'm glad you figured that much out on your own." Alice laughed at Sōma's indignant look.

"Well whatever," Sōma checked a clock for the time. "Well, I'm sure we'll both be able to pass something like that easily enough."

"Of course," Alice smiled falsely at Sōma. "As long as neither of us does something stupid."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sōma asked in mock irritation.

"Because I get the feeling that you'll do something stupid." Alice said bluntly.

"Just for that, I'm going to make you eat those words." Sōma stated.

"We'll see," Alice said. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Ryō walking down the hall. "Well, I need to get see how Ryō-kun's doing. Plus, I need him to go do stuff for me. I'll see you later, Yukihira Sōma-kun."

"See ya," Sōma replied to her retreating back. He was about to turn around and walk away before he saw that Ryō had noticed Alice running towards him, and by extension him as well. He seemed to huff before turning around to continue walking away. Sōma was sure that this would make Alice even more annoyed.

Sure enough, as soon as Alice was close enough, she started to hit Ryō repeatedly while yelling something at him. Sōma winced sympathetically. He sure was glad that he wasn't Alice's aide.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Hm?" Sōma got up from his spot on his bed at the sudden sound of something heavy hitting the ground downstairs. "What was that?"

Sōma jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. Once he was there, he saw a bunch of people who looked like movers walking out while rubbing their backs or cracking their fingers or even limping. He stared after them until they left before looking around. Nothing seemed to be different. He decided to follow the path that they seemed to have taken, which led him to the kitchen. Once inside, he looked around in shock.

The kitchen was now filled with a bunch of things that he had never seen before. Based on the smell coming off of them, they seemed to be for cooking. Yet they looked like they belonged in a laboratory or in a space station.

"What the Hell is going on here?!" Sōma yelled out.

"Huh?" Fumio turned to look at him. "Oh, someone is about to take the Entry Exam."

"I was asking about the equipment." Sōma claimed.

"So was I," Fumio rolled her eyes at Sōma's clueless expression. "They're taking the exam, and they need all of this stuff to cook it."

"What?" Sōma looked around before noticing that the kitchen had one extra occupant that he didn't notice before because he was distracted by all of the new and shiny things that had been added to the kitchen.

"Good day, Yukihira Sōma-kun." Alice smiled at him benignly.

' _Uh oh…'_ Sōma thought to himself.

* * *

 **A/N: So this chapter didn't have much to do with the manga. That'll come up soon though. The Training Camp is almost here. I'll either skip to it or have another random day with Sōma wandering the academy looking for inspiration. I'm still thinking about it.**

 **Now in regards to the pole, the winner is… Kobayashi Rindō-senpai. I'll be honest, I was rooting for her. But with what's going on in the manga… And the side that she's on… Well, I won't give my opinion on it here where I'll spoil it. Thankfully, I do have enough to go on to give her personality some spark. And it's before the end of the Moon Banquet Festival, another good point. But yeah, it's being worked on now. The results are below, for those of you who are wondering where the ladies placed.**

 **Alice – 5**

 **Hisako – 3**

 **Ikumi – 4**

 **Kurase – 1**

 **Nao – 1**

 **Rindō – 8**

 **Ryoko – 3**

 **So no more votes will be accepted now that it's closed. Costume ideas and things you think would be interesting are welcome to be sent in. PLEASE ONLY REVIEW IN CHAPTER 8 REGARDING YOUR IDEAS FOR THIS. PMs are acceptable too, but I'll give the reviews more priority when it comes to my decision making. It's cleaner and easier for me to sort through that way too, so I'll only be looking there and counting those to see votes in the end. Though, it seems like some of you ignored this the last time. It's no big deal though. I did take a look every review anyways. Still, it's preferable to dump them into Chapter 8's review section since it's an A/N and then they won't get mixed-in among other chapter's reviews concerning chapter content opinions.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Well it's been ages since I updated this… I'm sorry. I was all Shokugekied out after the Halloween Special, which I hope you enjoyed.**

 **I think this fic may go all the way until the end of the series now. Which, well, I think is possible by the looks of things.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"Hm… What should I pack…?" Alice asked herself as she walked around her walk-in closet. The closet was packed with designer clothing and different styles of accessories from several different areas all over the world. One wall was devoted entirely to jewelry. She wasn't paying any attention to those though. No good chef would wear jewelry while cooking. She was focused on the wall dedicated to shoes. Behind her, Ryō was leaning against the door and looking at his feet in defeat. "Any ideas, Ryō-kun?"

"Hm?" Ryō took a quick glance around the room before shrugging indifferently. "Does it matter, ojou-sama? You look good in everything."

"Obviously," Alice huffed and turned to glare at Ryō. "But I can't take everything, now can I? Now get in here and help me look. Then carry it all downstairs to the limo. Oh, and be sure to make lunch too, ok?"

"Right…" Ryō slowly trudged into the closet and started to look around. Or at least, he pretended to be giving some consideration. He had long ago learned that no matter what he picked, Alice would pick something else. As it was, it wasn't worth putting thought into his choice. Alice would pick something totally different regardless. All he could do now was pray that it would end soon.

"As it is, we have a lot of work to do," Alice continued, happy to see that Ryō was finally proving useful. "The training camp schedule is out. Everything will be done by dinner every day, except for the last day for some reason. So that gives us quite some free time after the challenges to do what we want. We'll need some entertainment while we're there. I may order a big screen TV to my room so I can watch some of my shows. You can come watch too, Ryō-kun."

"Thank you, ojou-sama." Ryō said dutifully. He wouldn't be taking her up on that offer though. If he came, he would be forced to watch nothing but her shows. And there was only so much Korean Drama that he could handle.

Alice hummed thoughtfully as she continued to look at her clothing options. She needed to make sure that she looked good during her off time while at Tōtsuki Resort. Even if it was for the purpose of a training camp, it was still being held at a very expensive resort. It would definitely be in her best interest to be dressed up at every possible opportunity, just in case. Still, it was harder than she thought it would be picking clothes for this. Even if it was only for a week, it would be their first week away from school as high school students. Plus, it was a chance to show off her cooking skills to Erina and Sōma.

' _What?'_ Alice stopped and thought back. _'Why did I think of showing off to Yukihira_ _S_ _ōma-kun?'_

That was new. Usually, she only thought about Erina whenever she thought about showing off her cooking skills. Sometimes she thought about the other Elite 10 members too. But Yukihira Sōma? He was just a passing interest for her. Why would she care what he thought of her cooking? Well, it did matter a bit to her. After all, she wants everyone to recognize that her cooking is the best. Sōma cooked really boring food anyways. It may be really tasty, but the presentation is so boring.

Alice bit her lip at the reminder. Sōma did cook pretty well. He was definitely above and beyond most of the other students in their year. It was obvious he wasn't a mere rock. It was too soon to say if he is a jewel or not. But at the very least, he wasn't like the rest. It bothered her that he was so plebeian yet he managed to somehow cook so well. He was from a small diner, he shouldn't be so competent. And yet, he had managed to impress teachers and beat Ikumi like it was nothing. Alice saw the effort that he put into his work, but others thought that he wasn't even trying. It was pitiful how the other students looked down on him even though they were so obviously beneath him. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't put them in their place. If things progressed like this, she would need to do it for him. And when she did…

"Ojou-sama?" Ryō asked after realizing that Alice had just spent a few minutes standing still and doing nothing. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy!" Alice lied smoothly, blinking rapidly after being dragged from her train of thought. "Never better. You know what, Ryō-kun? I think that I will think on what I want to bring. Let's forget about packing for now. We still have a few days. I'm going on a walk. Goodbye."

And with that, she quickly left. She barely managed to remember to grab her phone before she all but ran from her room, leaving Ryō alone.

Ryō stared blankly at her quickly retreating figure before looking back at the pile of clothes on top of her suitcase. Sighing to himself, he decided to walk over and finish packing it for her. She could bitch at him later if she didn't like his choices. He was sure that these choices would suffice though. After all, no one knew her better than him. Unfortunately.

* * *

Alice browsed through her messages as she walked around campus. She decided to just stay outside since it was such a good day. Also, it would lessen the chance of her seeing people she would rather not see. Like Sōma. Well, that was a lie. She did want to see him, but not right now.

"Hey!" Sōma's voice called out from a distance.

Of course, the universe wasn't that kind.

"Good afternoon, Yukihira-kun." Alice greeted once Sōma was close enough to hear her.

"What brings you out here today, Alice-san?" Sōma asked, not used to seeing Alice outside of class. Actually, aside from his first day at Tōtsuki, he had never seen her outside of class. That was a bit weird. Well, then again, it was a gigantic campus. He had gotten lost quite a few times already when Tadokoro wasn't around.

"Can't a girl enjoy some fresh air?" Alice retorted with a shrug. "But what about you, Yukihira-kun? Shouldn't you be preparing for the training camp like the other students? It's pretty difficult, from what I have heard."

"Eh?" Sōma scratched his head thoughtfully. "I've heard that half of this generation may fail. But that's no big deal, right? I mean, we just need to be in the half that passes. That shouldn't be too difficult."

"What a simplistic outlook," Alice commented with a slight smile. "But you're not wrong. I was actually just deciding what to bring there earlier. I'm on a break now."

"Same here," Sōma laughed at the coincidence. "I figured that it would be proactive to bring some of my own entertainment along."

"You're bringing games?" Alice's eyes sparkled. "Oh, which games? No, don't tell me. I want to be surprised when we're there."

"If you say so," Sōma grinned. "You should totally come to Marui's room. We'll probably be playing games there every night."

"Really?" Alice tried to picture who Sōma had just mentioned. If she recalled correctly, he was the one with glasses who tired easily. "I didn't think he was the type to be into partying late at night."

"Oh, he's not at all." Sōma agreed, recalling how Zenji was always the first to lose consciousness during the parties at the Polar Star Dorm. He was sure that eventually Zenji would become resilient enough to last the whole night and not get tired. It would just take some more parties until it happened. Well, they had three years to work on it.

"Riiight," Alice nodded, getting where Sōma was coming from. "He'll get used to it eventually."

"That's what I was thinking!" Sōma exclaimed excitedly. He was glad that someone else agreed with his thought process. "So it would be great if you'd stop by. Oh, and you can bring your aide too if you want. The more the merrier, after all. Do you two like card games?"

"We like all kinds of games," Alice fibbed. She actually didn't have much practice with playing regular games. Most of the time, she would play high society games with her mother and father. Activities like horseback riding, cricket, etc. But regular games with regular kids? There weren't any kids in the lab at Denmark. The only other kid she had known was Ryō, and he didn't count that much. Besides, their whole interaction consisted mainly of cook-offs. As such, she was almost as clueless as Erina when it came to social interactions, not that she would ever admit it to anyone. "So we'll be up for anything."

"Great!" Sōma said. Now he definitely had to bring some cards along. It would be fun seeing how good Alice was. Tadokoro was practically an open book with no poker face at all. Satoshi was… impossible. It would be nice to have some new blood to play with them. "I'll text you the room number after we find out."

"Right…" Alice murmured. She was actually going to see if she could figure that out beforehand. If possible, she'd move her room and Ryō's room to the same floor as Sōma's to make things easier. She would be annoyed if she had to go up or down a few floors to go there and then get back to go to sleep. It shouldn't be that difficult. All that she had to do was sweet talk her grandfather into allowing it. Easy.

"So what should we do now?" Sōma asked.

"Excuse me?" Alice blinked and turned to stare at Sōma.

"Well neither of us seem to be in the mood to pack," Sōma explained after seeing her perplexed look. "So let's do something fun. Got any ideas?"

"Oh," Alice turned and looked around. There were a bunch of things they could do. But unfortunately, most of it needed her power as a Nakiri. She wanted to avoid that in front of him as much as she could for now. "I suppose we could find an empty kitchen and make some test dishes?"

Alice turned to check Sōma's reaction. Seeing his wide grin, she smirked back in response. "I guess you're ok with that."

"I'm more than ok with it," Sōma said positively. If there was something that he would never be bored with, it would be cooking. "I've been wanting to see you cook for ages now anyways."

"Really?" Alice rolled her eyes at his response. Although inwardly, she was pleased that he appeared to be almost as curious as to her cooking as she was to his. "Don't expect too much though. My specialty is reserved for matches."

"So what you're saying is that we should have a Shokugeki?" Sōma asked after a moment.

"Someday," Alice laughed at the thought. It was way too soon for something like that. Besides, she wanted to see if he was worth it before challenging him. And even then, she would probably only fight him over a seat in the Elite 10 Council. Anything else wouldn't really be worth it. "For now, let's just get some practice in before the camp starts. It should be enough to keep us occupied for a while. I doubt the two of us need much practice, after all."

"Fine," Sōma untied his headband in preparation. Even if it was practice, he would do his best to cook something better than her. He had a feeling that she would do the same too. "Lead the way."

"Gladly." Alice smirked and led her towards a secluded kitchen that Ryō was fond of. She was sure that they wouldn't be disturbed there. In addition, she would be able to see Sōma's cooking up close again. She only hoped that he showed the same promise that he did in his match against Ikumi. If he didn't, well, she would just have to show him why it was a bad thing to disappoint a Nakiri.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"… What the Hell?" Sōma asked out loud as he looked at the training camp.

It was said to be a training camp, but it looked an awful lot like a boot camp. A boot camp from Hell, that is. It seemed to be straight out of the Army's unofficial handbook. There were trenches, tires, walls, and ropes. The obstacle course looked like some sort of a torture device. That was the best part though. The hotel looked to be a bunch of carved out trees. The tables and seats were all rocks of various shapes. And the ingredients they would use? Sōma was pretty sure that they would have to be caught if the traps and spears leaning off to the side were anything to go by.

Beside him, the rest of the students looked around them in shock and confusion.

"GREETINGS STUDENTS!" The loud voice of Nakiri Senzaemon bellowed as he stood above them all on a platform overlooking the area. "Welcome to the Tōtsuki Training Camp. Here, your bodies will be trained to be able to handle any situation that may come up in a restaurant. Whether it is a rowdy customer causing issues to a bull on the loose causing property damage. Here, you will all become **strong**!"

Sōma suddenly heard something shatter. He didn't bother to turn to see what it was. He was pretty sure that it was either Zenji Marui's heart or mind that just broke. Maybe both.

* * *

 **A/N: So there we have it. It looks like Alice is starting to think a bit more of our dear** **S** **ōma.**

 **I'm wondering if I should wait and have Alice's mom show up when she did in the manga. Or if I should have her show up sooner, like in a phone call. Well, at the earliest, she'd call before the preliminaries for the Autumn Election.**

 **The training camp will be starting in the next chapter. How do you think Alice will react to seeing Takumi greet** **S** **ōma? Haha, well you'll see soon enough.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: We're getting to the training camp. A lot of fun will be had there. So much fun.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"What the…" Sōma murmured as he gazed at the sight in front of him in shock. Even after everything that had happened to him at Tōtsuki thus for, he couldn't believe that there were still things shocking him. This school was really over the top, too much so.

 _'There's gotta be like a couple hundred buses here!'_ Sōma thought, not bothering to voice this obvious observation aloud. He mutely looked around, trying in vain to hide his shock. Beside him, the other students took this in calmly as though it wasn't much. To them, it probably wasn't. A few people around him glared at him when they noticed him, but he ignored them in favor of looking around some more.

The buses were all lined up and the students were starting to get into their assigned buses. Sōma looked around trying to find his. Unfortunately, he had lost sight of his dormmates in the crowd and wasn't sure where exactly to go now. He looked around a bit more before catching sight of a familiar pale head and smiled before starting to jog over. There was someone who could help.

"Hey Alice-san!" Sōma yelled once he was close enough for her to hear him. "Wait up!"

Alice froze for an instant before smiling and quickly turning around to wave at Sōma. She subtly looked around to see if anyone else had noticed Sōma's greeting. It seemed that quite a few people had. She made a motion discreetly behind her back at Ryō.

Ryō sighed and untied his bandana resignedly. He would rather not use it for situations like this, but he put it on his head anyways. Instantly he gained a bloodthirsty grin on his face before turning to glare at the people who were staring at Alice and him. Within seconds they had all looked away in fear. A few even ran into their buses, some even ran into the wrong bus. Once they had all either looked away or left, Ryō took off his bandana and retied it to his wrist slowly. He glanced at Alice briefly before looking ahead at the nearing Sōma who hadn't noticed a thing that had just happened.

"Is that ok, ojou-sama?" Ryō asked uncaringly.

"Perfect," Alice smirked minutely. "Well done, Ryō-kun."

"Ah," Ryō cracked his neck and turned around. "I'm going to head over to the bus and drop this off. I'll see your there, ojou-sama." The sooner he could put down his and Alice's combined luggage, the better.

"That's fine," Alice said uninterestedly as Sōma neared them. "Go for it."

Ryō nodded and walked away. He would wait to see what happened with the transfer student later. It was obvious that Sōma was definitely above most of the other students in terms of cooking skills. There were probably just a handful of students in their year on the same level as Sōma if he had to guess. If Alice wanted to scout him out, that was her problem. He wouldn't interfere. Either way, it probably wouldn't affect him much. If Alice got her claws into the guy, he would have someone to help shoulder her… issues. If Alice couldn't get her claws into the guy, then that would mean that things would continue as is. A minor let down, but oh well.

Alice glanced at Ryō, confused as to why he was in such a hurry to leave. She quickly put that out of her mind though as Sōma walked up with a sheepish expression on his face. She raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms. "How can I help you today, Yukihira Sōma-kun?"

"Ahaha…" Sōma laughed awkwardly. "Um, we're on the same bus, right?"

"That's right," Alice said, trying not to laugh at the reminder. She had actually snuck into Erina's office a few days earlier in order to fix it so that she and Sōma would be sitting in the same bus. She was surprised at how easy it was. Then again, Erina could be really oblivious at times. Regardless, she wouldn't be telling Sōma how that seating arrangement came to be anytime soon. "I told you that before. Why bother with asking me again?"

"I was just making sure," Sōma shrugged uncomfortably. He looked away, clearly embarrassed. "I kind of forgot what bus we're supposed to be on though…"

"Follow me," Alice said. She rolled her eyes at his obvious forgetfulness when she was sure that he couldn't see. "You can remember complex recipes but you can't remember what bus you're supposed to be on? That's kind of sad."

"They're not even remotely the same thing," Sōma complained. "Besides, I can remember the important stuff at least."

"And the bus that will take you to the training camp isn't important enough for you to remember?" Alice said, gesturing around them in response to Sōma's answer.

"Whatever…" Sōma grumbled. He looked away from Alice to show his discontent, although he had to fight not to smirk at her quick retorts. She was as good at comebacks as she was at cooking. And that was definitely saying something.

"I guess it doesn't matter that much," Alice laughed Sōma's obvious annoyance. "At least you can cook."

"Why does it sound as if you think that that's the only good thing about me?" Sōma asked in a deadpan tone. His eyes glowed with mirth though at the thought of that. It wasn't that bad of a thing to be honest.

"There are other good things about you?" Alice asked jokingly. She looked him up and down intently. There actually were a lot of good things about him. His randomness was interesting to behold. It was always fun to hear how he would twist and improve recipes to the shock and discontent of other students and teachers. The way that he was always so open and friendly was very refreshing. Other people were always either walking around egg shells with her or only talked about her to get to Erina. Sōma was neither of those types. And his looks? Well, he was good there too she thought with a slight blush.

"Are you ok?" Sōma asked innocently after she kept did nothing but stare at him for a few minutes.

"Fine!" Alice said hurriedly before quickening her pace. "Let's go. We're almost there."

"Seriously?" Sōma looked forward and stared. Even after all of the walking they had done they still weren't at their bus. There were seriously too many buses here. Or too many students. It was hard to tell. "This is such a drag. Why can't they just drive up to us?"

"That would make things easier," Alice agreed with Sōma's logic. "But you should look on the bright side."

"What's the bright side exactly?" Sōma asked interestedly. It was really hard to think of one unless the training camp was a lot more fun than the others had made it sound.

"After the camp, there will be fewer students in our year," Alice said with a wicked smile. "Who knows? Maybe after the training camp, the next trip will only require one bus."

"That's harsh." Sōma commented idly. He couldn't imagine that happening no matter the level of the other students.

"You say that now," Alice retorted with a careless shrug. "But it could happen. There is a precedent, after all."

"Seriously?!" Sōma asked incredulously. That was hard to swallow. "What kind of training camp could cause that many expulsions?"

"This one, obviously." Alice said callously. "Don't worry. I know that we'll both pass. Oh. Here's our bus."

Sōma was about to respond until Alice mentioned that they were finally at the bus. "Finally! I wonder why I got separated from the usual group I'm with though."

"Beats me," Alice said, trying to keep a straight face. When she felt that it was starting to fail, she hurried onto the bus. "Come on, Yukihira-kun. I had Ryō-kun save us some seats." That was a lie. But if need be, she could easily have Ryō **convince** another student to vacate their seat.

"Right." Sōma followed after her.

As soon as they both walked on board of the bus, the conversations that had been going on immediately stopped. The other students were either making sure to not look at Alice or glare at Sōma. The only person not doing either was Ryō, who was staring out of the window impassively in the back. Alice and Sōma both ignored this and walked over to the back of the bus where Ryō was and sat down. Alice sat in the middle while Sōma took the other window seat.

After Sōma put his bag in the overhead compartment, he sat down and turned to check his seatmates for the rest of this trip. Alice was once again on her phone as she usually was. Ryō, on the other hand, was fiddling with his bandana and staring out of the window restlessly. Sōma half wondered if Ryō didn't like buses. He decided not to ask though. Instead, he focused on Ryō's bandana. It was a dark crimson color with a flame design on it. It reminded Sōma of his own headband. He would bet anything that it was really important to Ryō. He sniffed delicately, smelling something that seemed out of place. After a moment, he realized that the smell was coming off of Ryō's bandana. It smelled like seafood. Really strong sea food. Sōma's mouth started to water. He swallowed roughly, trying to reign in his growing appetite. He looked back at Ryō's face only to see crimson eyes looking back at him apathetically.

"Can I help you?" Ryō asked lazily.

"Nah," Sōma grinned, seemingly unperturbed by the other boy's stare. "I was just admiring your bandana. It's pretty cool."

"Oh?" Ryō looked down at it before looking back at Sōma. This time, his expression was a bit more focused. "Thanks."

Alice chose this moment to put her phone away and check on the both of them.

"Are you two doing ok?" Alice asked, making sure that Ryō hadn't said anything unnecessary like he usually did.

Ryō shrugged coolly and turned back to look out of the window.

Alice glared at him lightly before turning towards Sōma. "I'm sorry about him. He's usually a good boy."

"It's no big deal," Sōma said, glad for the distraction. The way Ryō had been looking at him was starting to get unnerving. It wasn't unlike Alice's stare. Ryō's stare was a bit more primal though. "I was just wondering if Kurokiba cooked seafood or something."

Ryō stiffened before turning to look back at Sōma appraisingly.

"He does," Alice said, somewhat surprised that Sōma figured that out despite never talking to Ryō before. "How on earth did you guess?"

"His bandana," Sōma replied, pointing towards it. "It smells like sea food. Really good seafood, actually."

"Good guess," Ryō said, sniggering slightly at Sōma's response. "And what are you good at then? From what I can tell, you're a jack of all trades kind of guy. Am I right?"

"I suppose you could say that," Sōma said in agreement after thinking it over for a minute. It was a pretty apt description. He really had no preferred style or specialty. He only did was made the most sense and seemed the most fun. It hadn't failed him yet. "Good guess."

"Hn," Ryō snorted. A quick glare from Alice made him sigh inwardly. It looked like he would have to play a bit nice with the transfer student. That was fine though. The guy wasn't a total loser from what he could see. The scar on Sōma's brow and the callouses on his hand were very telling. Sōma had worked in a kitchen for a very long time, maybe even as long as himself. He doubted that last part though. "Thanks."

They stopped talking for a moment when the bus finally started to move. They looked outside and saw that every bus had started and now they were finally on their way towards the camp. The whole bus quieted down as reality set in. It was finally starting to sink in that there was a high chance that some of them may not make it back. An uneasy atmosphere settled upon everyone.

"Well, wake me up when we get there," Sōma said before yawning. "I think I'll take a nap."

With that, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Alice and Ryō both looked at him incredulously. Alice was about to ask him if he was sure before the sound of snoring reached her ears. She fought the urge to yell at him. After all of the trouble that she had gone through to make sure that he was on the same bus as her, he fell asleep? That was so insulting.

"Was this a part of your plan, ojou-sama?" Ryō asked with a small smirk. Luckily, Alice didn't notice his amusement at her ire.

"Not quite," Alice admitted. "Still, there's time."

"I see," Ryō nodded in understanding. "It won't be long until he finds out your relation to Erina. I'm surprised that you didn't tell him already."

"I'm waiting to see how long it will take him to find out on his own," Alice said hesitantly. "It's fun seeing how clueless he is."

"If you say so, ojou-sama," Ryō said disbelievingly. "He's got the right idea though. I'm going to take a nap too. After all, we're going straight to the kitchens after the welcoming speech once we arrive. It pays to be well rested."

With that, Ryō followed Sōma's example and leaned back before closing his eyes.

Alice groaned, seeing that the two sources of entertainment that she had been counting on for this long ride were already asleep.

"So unreliable…" Alice muttered. After a few minutes of silence, she pulled out her phone and made a call. "Hey! Hello, Erina? Hey cousin… do you mind entertaining me? I'm sooooo bored."

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Hey, transfer kid!" Ryō growled as he angrily made his way over towards Sōma.

"Huh?" Sōma stared at the angry guy walking towards him. "Aren't you Alice-san's aide? What do you want with me?"

"I'm challenging you to a Shokugeki," Ryō said with a vicious smirk. "Are you in?"

Sōma's eyes widened before he grinned enthusiastically. "Of course I'm in!"

"Good," Ryō nodded approvingly. "As for the wager, if I somehow manage to lose… I'll teach you some of the original recipes that I learned while training in Denmark. Is that good enough for you?"

"That's fine with me," Sōma declared. He was sure that that those recipes would be worth it. Ryō is one of the best cooks in their year, after himself, of course. "And what if I somehow manage to lose?"

"If I win, then you will replace me and become Alice's new aide." Ryō said unhesitatingly.

* * *

 **A/N: So in the next chapter, they will be at the training camp. Will Alice keep Sōma in line or will she egg him on while they're there? My bet is on both.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Part of me wants to just have them say that they like each other and just end it there. But nope, it has to be built up. Slow and steady, right?**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"It's been a long time since we've been here, neh, Ryō-kun?" Alice asked her aide as they walked into Tōtsuki Resort. They milled around the crowd for a bit until it was time for the opening announcement. Sōma had left as soon as they had parked in order to go and find his friends, much to Alice's displeasure.

"Ah," Ryō grunted noncommittally. He really wasn't in the mood to converse while he was forced to carry both his and Alice's luggage by himself. Complaining out loud wouldn't help at all. "A few years, I think. Will we be in the penthouse as per usual then, ojou-sama?"

"Regrettably we cannot," Alice sighed. She had been looking forward to it. But her grandfather had forbid her to do so. She needed to get the **whole student experience** while she could, was what he had said. It was unclear what exactly he had meant by that, but Alice wasn't too broken up about it. It meant that she could get a room closer to Sōma's, which was enough to curve her dissatisfaction over the situation. "We'll be fine though. I set it up so that we'll get a good view and be close to the hot springs and kitchens. That way, it'll take us less time to get back between events."

"That works." Ryō nodded along as Alice prattled on. He wouldn't have cared either way. But as long as Alice wasn't making it more difficult, he wouldn't say anything about her bending the rules.

Once they were in the great banquet hall, Alice led them both over to the far wall. Ryō, knowing Alice was watching him closely, carefully put down all of their luggage. Once he was done, he rolled his shoulders and sighed before slowly taking a seat next to them. A few students looked their way, confused about the enormous amount that they had brought for five day trip. Almost all of it was of course Alice's. All of the students who stared too long quickly looked away after meeting Ryō's eyes though. Even without his bandana on, his gaze could be unnerving.

The rest of the students started to flow into the great banquet hall. Most of them had been taking in the sight of Tōtsuki Resort. Alice supposed she couldn't really blame them. It was certainly one of the nicer resorts the academy owned. She watched the faces trying to see if she could find Sōma or Erina. Ryō occasionally would glance over and check on her expression before looking back down at the ground.

After a while, near the end, Erina and Hisako finally entered. Alice watched them with veiled interest. They appeared to be talking heatedly about something. Erina appeared to be pouting. Alice would bet that she was either thinking about how annoying this whole thing was, or Sōma. The smart money would be on Sōma, since he wasn't in yet. Sure enough, as soon as she had thought that, Sōma came in. Alice snorted delicately at the look on Erina's face once she noticed him. Sōma didn't appear to be paying anyone any mind. He was focused on looking at the interior of the resort with a shocked look on his face.

"It's almost time, ojou-sama," Ryō muttered suddenly, gaining Alice's attention. He stood back up and took a few steps forward. "We're going to have to stand in formation soon. Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Alice shrugged. She had heard the speech before from other students. It was pretty obvious stuff. She would rather go right to the cooking, but she knew that they needed to get the formalities out of the way first. There was tradition to keep up with and whatnot. "Leave the luggage here for now, you can take it up later."

Ryō growled inwardly and the obvious and expected exclusion of herself in the sentence. His eyes darted to the side of the stage, noting that quite a few people were standing right out of sight. Chappelle-sensei was easily recognizable in the front and was checking his watch. A noise, extremely loud in this big and silent hall, brought his attention back to the group that Sōma had come in with. Although now they had a newcomer in their group, the meat master, Mito Ikumi. Nearby students were staring at their group, or to be more accurate, they were glaring at Sōma.

It was obvious that even while at this training camp, Sōma would have people gunning for him. Ryō couldn't care less about any of that though. Anyone who would aim for petty revenge instead of focusing on their own survival would definitely fail here. Stuff like that should always be left to a Shokugeki. Well, it was doubtful that a Shokugeki would happen here. No one would be that stupid.

Finally, Chappelle-sensei started to walk towards the center stage. All at once, the near silent whispering that had been filling the hall disappeared as student rushed to stand at attention. Alice and Ryō quickly moved in spots by the edge.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen…" Chappelle-sensei started to say. From beyond the curtains, several of the alumni smirked, remembering this nostalgic speech. Gin, on the other hand, stood near the front in order to take a peek and see some of the students. None of the students noticed the alumni standing just out of sight near the side of the stage.

As Chappelle-sensei kept talking, Ryō started to slowly zone out. Beside him, Alice hummed thoughtfully while keeping a close eye on Ikumi.

' _She sure is standing awfully close to Yukihira Sōma…'_ Alice thought, feeling a tad bit annoyed over that fact.

Neither of them paid any attention to what Chappelle-sensei or Gin-senpai said during the welcoming announcement. It wouldn't have mattered anyways though. They both knew this training camp from Hell would be nothing but a cakewalk for the two of them.

* * *

"So now we just have to survive, right?" Alice said with a bored tone of voice as she and Ryō started walking towards the location of their first assignment after Chappelle-sensei allowed them to leave.

"Pretty much, ojou-sama." Ryō yawned. After barely listening to the boring speech, he felt like taking a nap out of boredom. That would have to wait though. For now, they were a bit rushed to get to the next location at time. Luckily, they weren't one of the others who would be going to a far spot in the resort to take their assignment. On the downside, for him at least, this assignment would require them to work in the usual pairs. Which meant, of course, that he would have to be stuck with Alice again.

"Well then, that's easy enough," Alice smirked. She had thought that it would be at least a bit of a challenge. This would be child's play though. "Ah, it looks like we're here."

As soon as she and Ryō entered the room, all eyes immediately turned towards them and hushed whispering started to fill the room. Alice ignored it all with a small smirk and walked briskly to a spot in the back with Ryō following closely behind her. She was more than used to this behavior from others. She was proud to say that it barely affected her now. She could make out some words here and there.

"So we're in the same group as her?"

"I bet she'll pass without even trying..."

"Why do we get stuck with a Nakiri?"

"She must be good since she's Erina-sama's cousin."

Alice's smirk faded a bit at the last comment.

Ryō's eyes narrowed at the student who had said the last comment, causing her to flush and turn around swiftly to avoid the look in his eyes.

The whispering stopped suddenly, but not because of the glare that Ryō was now wearing. In front of the class, one of the alumni had just walked in. The 79th generation's 2nd Seat as well as _Ristorante F's_ owner and Head Chef, Mizuhara Fuyumi, an expert on Italian cooking. She gazed at all of them with an uninterested look before sitting down on top of the bench in the front of the room. She brought her legs up and rested her chin on her knees while her lips moved silently.

' _What's she doing?'_ Alice raised an eyebrow at the odd action. It wasn't that odd though. Having lived at Tōtsuki in her early life, she had seen and heard of the odd behaviors of many of the previous Elite 10. Why, it was practically a prerequisite to be odd and/or quirky to become a member. Still though, she wondered what was going on in Fuyumi's head.

"You're all going to make an Italian cuisine main dish," Fuyumi explained while pointing out of the window. "Use the ingredients you find out there to make it. There's a fence out there that you're not allowed to pass, neither can you take ingredients that are past it. There are also seasonings, oil, and cookware in this room that you're free to use. Oh, and there's a shed out back with tools that can help you. You have two hours to make me a dish that will allow you to pass. Go."

There was a beat of silence before pandemonium set in.

"EH?!"

"ITALIAN CUISINE? HERE?"

"RUN!"

Alice watched the others panic with an amused expression on her face while she twirled her bang between her fingers thoughtfully. This wasn't that bad of an assignment. It was certainly inventive. Making an Italian style dish with ingredients found in a Japanese resort? Difficult, but nowhere near impossible. She eyed the cabinets to the side before glancing at Ryō. "I have an idea. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes, ojou-sama," Ryō said with a small smirk. His gaze was fixated on the river out of the window. "You prep the station while I'll go and catch us some lunch."

"Perfect," Alice practically skipped over to the condiment as Ryō leisurely walked outside. There was no reason to rush. They both knew what they were going to make and how to make it. Besides, it wasn't a competition. It would be better to make things carefully, in case Fuyumi is a picky eater.

Fuyumi eyed the two of them with a little bit of interest. Out of all of the students, only Alice and Ryō didn't panic and rush out. That was usually a good sign. Given the fact that one was a Nakiri and the other was the Nakiri's aide, it would be a good bet that they'd pass this easily. She half wondered what they would make. The other half of her wondered if she would be lucky enough to not have to meet up with Kojirō during the rest of her stay here.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Erina-sama!" Hisako yelled out as she burst into Erina's office. She was panting hard and her frantically darted around before they rested on a surprised looking Erina. "Erina-sama! I have big news!"

"What?" Erina eyed her trusted aide in confusion. In all the time that she had known Hisako, she had never known her to be so frantic about anything. "What's wrong, Hisako?"

"It's Yukihira Sōma!" Hisako announced. She winced and took a step back at Erina's aggravated expression.

"What has he done now?" Erina grounded out.

"U-um…" Hisako stuttered. "H-he's going to have a Shokugeki with K-Kurokiba-kun, Erina-sama."

"Oh?" Erina leaned back in her seat with a bored expression on her face. "I fail to see how this concerns me. Will he be expelled if he loses?"

"N-no…" Hisako hesitated. She wasn't sure how to best explain the conditions of the Shokugeki to her friend. Taking out the photocopy of the paper with the Shokugeki challenge and conditions, she decided to just read the consequence if Sōma lost. "If Yukihira-kun loses… According to this, he will become Alice-san's slave…?" Hisako trailed off uncertainly once she got to the end. At hearing a pen fall to the ground, she looked back up and was met by Erina's frozen red face.

"W-WHAT?!" Erina schreech, as unbidden thoughts surfaced in her mind pertaining to a recent manga she had read. She had only seen one page before Hisako had ripped the manga out of her hands and threw it out of the window. But the damage had been done and now that image forever haunted her dreams. Moreover, now, the faces of the hero and heroine were slowly being replaced by Sōma's and Alice's. Her face felt like it was about to burst into flames. "T-THAT'S SO SHAMELESS!"

* * *

 **A/N: So, I was thinking about it… And quite a few of you liked the idea of it… So during the training camp, the OMAKES will all be relating to** **Ryō's and Sōma's Shokugeki. I hope you liked it.**

 **The next chapter will have… Let's see… The 50 dish challenge and the hot springs ;).**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: Ok, this chapter took longer than expected, but here it is. The next part of the training camp.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"Mhmmm…" Alice stretched lazily as she leaned up against a pillar as the other students walked back into the main hall to hear the next phase. She wasn't too worried about it though. From what she had found out, it seemed like they would be making dinner for a small number of people before leaving to make their own. Luckily, she wouldn't have to worry about making her own dinner since she had Ryō around. Some loud yelling brought her attention towards the door and she turned to check on it. Her lips twitched into a smile as she caught sight of a familiar head of red hair.

Sōma walked in with his dormmates leisurely. Alice saw him yawn as he looked around curiously. He didn't notice her, instead focusing his attention on the crowd of people being led by Hitoshi Sekimori walking towards them. A few people stared in awe. Ryō glanced over before snorting and looking back down at the ground. Alice and Sōma both quirked an eyebrow at the odd looking crowd. They appeared to be mainly foreigners. They were probably body builders or athletes. Based on the dumb poses that they were making, they were most likely body builders. Alice rolled her eyes at the display.

Hitoshi started to explain the rules of the next phase. Alice decided to take this chance to walk up beside Sōma, leaving Ryō by himself. None of his friends noticed her since they were either too busy with either focusing on Hitoshi or dying a bit on the inside. Although to be honest, it was only Yūki who was looking heartbroken. Alice would have said something witty about it, but the look of utter devastation on Yūki's face stopped her. It would have felt like kicking a puppy. Instead, she focused on Sōma who at this point was smirking at the thought of the new challenge.

"This has been a pretty easy day, wouldn't you say Yukihira Sōma-kun?" Alice remarked idly from right next to him.

"Huh?" Sōma's heart sped up in surprise of seeing Alice so close without him noticing. Outwardly though, he didn't show much a reaction besides the slight widening of his eyes. It seemed like that was enough for Alice though, based on the devious expression on her face. "Oh hey, you made it too."

"Are you shocked?" Alice asked semi-seriously. She would be pretty upset if Sōma would be dumb enough to say yes to that.

"Nah, I'm pretty happy actually," Sōma said, smiling at her. "I'm glad that you're still here."

"Thank you." Alice murmured, turning away from him to hide the blush that was growing on her face.

It figured that he would say something like that without either knowing or caring about the way it could be taken. Alice couldn't tell if it was his best or his worst trait. She was going to reserve judgment for now until she figured out more about him. Her original plan was to do it after finding his file, but for some reason it wasn't where it should have been in the school archives. She was planning on looking into it after they got back to Tōtsuki. Well, only if he managed to make it through the camp.

' _How annoying…'_ Alice thought at that reminder. _'I really hate waiting.'_

Sōma stared at her, watching the expressions on her face rapidly change with each new thought she had. It was pretty amusing actually. His face broke into a grin as he continued to watch her.

No one else noticed Sōma's blatant staring except for Ryō from his spot in the back of the crowd. His eyes narrowed at Sōma before turning to check an Alice. Seeing that she didn't seem to mind or care about it, he decided to let it go. As long as he wasn't dragged into whatever was going on with them, he wouldn't care. Alice was enough of a pain as it is. It was plain to see, ever since Sōma's speech at the entrance ceremony, that he was made of the same type of mold.

"B-but Sekimori-senpai!" Yūki yelled out after Hitoshi's explanation was done, breaking Sōma and Alice out of the reverie. "What about our own dinner?"

"Hm," Hitoshi turned to regard her before answering calmly. "Once you're done with this challenge, you can make your own dinner."

"Make our own dinner…?" Yūki echoed in shock. "But what about… but what about the extravagant dinner we're supposed to get?"

"There is no such thing." Hitoshi said dispassionately.

"Huh?" Yūki stared at Hitoshi in incomprehension.

"That said, I should also mention that all of your meals during the training camp will be prepared by yourself," Hitoshi continued, heedless to Yūki's heartbreak. "One last thing, if any of you cannot finish making 50 servings within the next 60 minutes, you will be expelled then and there."

Nearly everyone froze in shock at his declaration.

"Begin!" Hitoshi yelled out immediately after.

The shock hadn't quite set in yet. But as soon as Hitoshi yelled for them to begin, everyone made a mad dash towards the kitchen to start preparing the meals. Only a few people were capable of calmly entering the kitchen. Alice and Sōma were two of them. The trailed in behind everyone else. Alice, upon seeing a counter with two free spots still, quickly grabbed Sōma and eagerly dragged him towards it.

The kitchen had gone from complete silence to a noisy mess that could only be compared to a stadium of some kind. Every student was either running to grab ingredients or cooking aggressively as fast as they could. Hitoshi stood at the front of it all, calmly looking over the students. He made note of a few above average students. Behind him, the customers waited eagerly. Some were drooling already from the smell and sight alone.

"Are you having fun yet?" Alice asked Sōma coolly from her spot next to him. She was idly making note of Sōma's cooking techniques, seeing how swiftly he was churning out his servings. It looked like it had only taken him a few tries to figure out the optimal cooking pattern. Not bad, but she had managed it faster after setting up her ingredients in the proper order.

"The time of my life," Sōma replied with a grin. He glanced over at Alice's station and was slightly surprised to see how well she was doing. Despite starting a bit after him, she was already caught up. Actually, she may be a bit ahead. "Are you having any troubles? I could help you when I'm done."

"Please," Alice scoffed jokingly. "If anyone needs help, it's you."

"We'll just have to see who finishes first then, won't we?" Sōma asked challengingly, speeding up his pace.

"It certainly looks that way." Alice said, speeding up her pace as well.

From several counters behind them, Ryō watched Alice and Sōma carefully. They appeared to be having a contest to see who would finish the fastest. Ryō wasn't too interested in that. Comparing the taste is a lot more interesting. Still though, he couldn't help but notice that Sōma was pretty fast for a nobody. They would both finish pretty soon. Ryō glanced around at the other students. It seemed as if everybody but the Italian twins seemed to be struggling with this challenge. Ryō was behind too, but that didn't matter. He would finish on time easily. There was no need to get heated over something as easy as this.

"Nakiri Alice and Yukihira Sōma, finished 50 meals." Hitoshi declared after they had both simultaneously turned in their 50th serving.

' _So fast…'_ Yūki thought in shock as she watched the two of them leave the room together. But her attention was quickly taken away as the customers started yelling for sixths.

* * *

"Now what should we do?" Sōma asked Alice as they headed back to their rooms for the night. "I'm pretty sure that it will take them a little while longer to finish. Maybe there will be something on TV."

"True," Alice said. She was pretty unconcerned about the others. But right now, she was getting pretty bored. Suddenly, a sign caught her attention. She read it quickly before moving in front of it to cover up some words before getting Sōma's attention. "How about we do this?"

"Hm?" Sōma looked over to see what Alice was talking about. "Oh, a public bath? Yeah, that sounds like fun. Wait, we can't hang out if we go to that though."

"Oh, it's ok…" Alice waved off his concern. "It's no big deal. We can just hang out afterwards, right?"

"Right," Sōma nodded. "Well then, I'm going to head to my room to get my yukata and stuff. I'll see you later."

With that, Sōma ran off.

Alice stepped away from the sign, allowing the missing words to be shown.

 _MALE PUBLIC BATH IS TO THE LEFT_

 _FEMALE PUBLIC BATH IS TO THE RIGHT_

 _MIXED PUBLIC BATH IS STRAIGHT AHEAD_

"Right," Alice laughed to herself. "I'll see you sooner than later."

Alice walked straight ahead towards the baths. She wanted to get there before Sōma. It sucked that she wouldn't have the proper attire to wear right afterwards, but she could suffer through it just this once. The important part was surprising Sōma. She walked into the changing room and looked around. All of the baskets for people's belongings were empty. That was a good sign. She grabbed a towel off of a rack before walking over towards one end to strip.

After she was done, Alice walked towards the bath and glanced around as she entered to make sure that no one else was there. It didn't look like anyone was using the mixed bath. That was good. She sighed softly as she slowly lowered herself into the water. She made sure that her towel was tied on tightly before making her way towards one of the pillars in the bath. She leaned up against it, making sure that she was out of sight from anyone walking in though the entrance.

' _Now then…'_ Alice thought giddily. _'All that's left to do is wait.'_

In all honestly, she hadn't really thought this plan through. All that mattered was that she surprise Sōma. It's not like it was that big of a deal if he saw her wearing nothing but a towel. Her face heated up as she slid further into the water until only her hair was visible. It figured that she would start regretting now that she was passed the point of no return.

A noise from the changing room made her sit up straighter. With any luck, that would be Sōma. A cheerful, if awfully out of tune, humming sound brought a smile to her lips. Only one guy could hum that awfully. She peeked from behind the pillar only to quickly go back into hiding at what she has seen.

Good news, it was Sōma. Bad news, he was naked.

' _Erina was right,'_ Alice thought humorlessly as she grabbed her forehead in a poor attempt to cool down her blushing face. _'Yukihira_ _Sōma really is uncouth.'_

"Alright!" Sōma exclaimed as he jumped into the bath. "I'm taking the first bath."

"Sorry, but you're actually second." Alice said from her hiding spot, rolling her eyes at his enthusiasm. At least it helped distract her, even if only a little bit.

"W-what?!" Sōma yelled out in surprise. Upon seeing the familiar shock of white hair, he quickly grabbed his towel to cover himself up. "A-Alice-san? What are you doing in the men's bath?"

"This is the mixed bath, Yukihira Sōma-kun." Alice stated calmly. She hoped that Sōma would attribute the heat of the bath to causing her flushed face.

"Really?" Sōma questioned, looking back at her before quickly looking away. His mind flashed to the last time this situation had happened, with Megumi. This had several differences though. For one, there was no screaming. He was thankful for that part. "Um, I guess I should go there then."

"Why would you bother with doing that much?" Alice asked, grinning at the sight of Sōma being flustered. After knowing him for the past few weeks, she didn't think that it was possible for him to get this flustered; if at all. It was a sight she could definitely get used to. Although… She lowered herself a bit deeper into the water now that she had made her appearance to him. "We're both already in the bath, so how about we just stay and talk, hm?"

"I guess that's fine…" Sōma murmured. It really wasn't. But he didn't want to have to get up, get dressed, and go to the men's bath to repeat the process of getting in. It would be a time waster.

"Marvelous," Alice clapped her hands happily. "So what shall we talk about, Yukihira Sōma-kun?"

Sōma looked at her from the corner of his eye. There was the second difference. She wasn't throwing stuff at him. Yet another thing to be thankful for. "How much do you know about Nakiri Erina?"

"Why do you want to know?" Alice asked blankly. Her happy mood plummeted. That wasn't what she wanted to hear, especially not from him. Did he find out about her connection to Erina? Was that why he was asking her this now? There couldn't be any other reason.

"I ran into her on my way over here," Sōma explained. He stared at Alice's blank expression with a bit of worry. "She's really annoying. I accidentally bump into her, and she goes into a tirade about she can't wait to see which day I'll be kicked out on. I mean seriously, who does that?"

Alice laughed out loud at that. Out of all of the reasons she had been dreading as the reason for his question, that was definitely the furthest from any of them. She kept laughing as Sōma turned to stare at her bemusedly.

"Oh sure, you think it's funny," Sōma said jokingly. "I doubt you'd be that way if she were saying it right to your face."

"I doubt that it would come to that," Alice said, panting a bit from laughing so much. "After all, I'm a higher caliber chef than you are." She made sure to keep her tone light, just in case Sōma took her seriously. It would be a hindrance to her if he thought she was anything like her cousin.

"Is that a fact?" Sōma raised an eyebrow at her. "I haven't seen you cook for real yet though."

"That's true," Alice acknowledged. Thus far, they had really only seen each other cooking for assignments. She had been lucky to see Sōma have a Shokugeki. But besides that, there really wasn't much either of them had seen concerning the other's specialty. "We should fix that; after the training camp, of course."

"I'm game," Sōma said confidently. "Just come by the dorm whenever you're free."

"Ugh," Alice groaned at the thought. "But that's so far away."

"I make that walk every day," Sōma pointed out. It really did suck that he had to do that though. He would need to get a bike soon. "You can make it at least once."

' _Or I could get my driver to take me there.'_ Alice thought while nodding outwardly with a glum expression.

"Heh," Sōma grinned, a look that she reciprocated. "I can't wait. This will be fun."

"Or we could work on the project," Alice said thoughtfully, recalling that it was yet another thing they would have to accomplish. "After all, that's important too."

"Nah," Sōma shook his head. "We can do that anytime. We have the whole year, right? It'll be simple."

"Sure," Alice shrugged. It wasn't something that she was concerned about either. She yawned and stretched lazily. "Ugh, I think that this heat is starting to get to me."

"Eh?" Sōma glanced over only to turn to look ahead again. There was the third difference. Chest size. He gulped and looked towards the door, which was conveniently on his other side. "Maybe we should get going then? I'm sure that the others must be done by now. I don't want to keep them waiting."

"I guess…" Alice murmured before getting up. She started to walk towards the door and slid it open before turning just in time to see Sōma's flustered face look away. She waved at him cheerfully. "No peeking, ok?"

"As if!" Sōma yelled in reply as she shut the sliding door behind her with a laugh. He groaned after she was out of sight and slid down until only his eyes were visible. And finally, the fourth difference had showed itself. Alice was a total tease. He had figured that out before, but this time really took the cake. Tomorrow, he was definitely going to be bathing in the men's only public bath.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Hm…" Senzaemon hummed thoughtfully to himself as he read the letter of challenge in front of him.

In front of him, Hisanao fidgeted slightly. He didn't like how serious the director was being about this. While it was legal and all, the Shokugeki challenge between Ryō and Sōma had a really bad ending if Sōma lost. Or at least, he thought so. It was the reason why he had decided to bring it up to the director in order to see if it should be validated or not. Thus far, the director hadn't said a single word about anything that was written in the letter of challenge.

"I see…" Senzaemon murmured. He placed the letter on his desk and stamped it before handing it back to Hisanao.

"S-sir?" Hisanao questioned. "Are you sure we should be allowing this Shokugeki to take place?"

"It's interesting," Sanzaemon shrugged before slamming his hands on the table enthusiastically. "SO I SHALL ALLOW IT!"

"I should have known…" Hisanao muttered before leaving in defeat. Now he would need to go and find appropriate judges for the Shokugeki.

* * *

 **A/N: There we go. Part of me, a small part, wanted to make a lemon at the end there. But I held back. It was probably for the best. Maybe I'll make an OMAKE of it someday that implies _it_ happening. We'll see how it goes.**

 **For now, the next day has the Unofficial Shokugeki with** **Shinomiya Kojirō. Well, I say that. But it will really focus on Alice most likely as well as her reaction to the rumors about what happened in his class. I may have Ryō's perspective a bit more often in order to even things out.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	15. Chapter 14

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. It's pretty much filler though. Alice's life is dull compared to** **Sōma's. I should probably spice her life up some more. That is not a pun referring to Akira…**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

Alice looked around in confusion as she searched the hall for Sōma. After finishing up another day, she had been looking forward to teasing Sōma again. It was annoying that they had gotten placed into different groups during the training camp. And now, when they were finally able to hang out, he was gone. It was typical, and very annoying. Alice huffed angrily as she continued to look around.

"This is so weird," A familiar voice said, sighing loudly. "I wonder something could have happened to Megumi."

Alice turned and looked at the direction the voice came from. Seeing the familiar group of the Polar Star residents, she smirked happily and moved a bit closer to eavesdrop on them.

"Everyone should be done with their afternoon sessions," Zenji said. He also looked around the room before hanging his head. "Do you think that…?"

"I didn't see her name on the list of people who failed though." Shun replied coolly.

"Why don't we just go and ask someone who was in her group?" Shōji asked.

"That's a great idea!" Yūki said, perking up. "Maybe Yukihira knows where she is. Wasn't he in her group? Um… Where is he?"

"Come to think of it, I don't think we've seen him either." Daigo said, glancing around.

Alice's ears twitched at this new information. So not even their friends knew where they were. Yet they apparently didn't fail. How strange.

Seeing that they would be no help to her, she left and decided to go and find Ryō.

Luckily, it didn't take long to find him. All she had to do was go near the back of the crowd to find Ryō leaning against a wall with a blank look on his face.

"Seriously, Ryō-kun?" Alice asked exasperatedly. "You're supposed to be by my side **at all times**. What part of that do you not understand?"

"But you were walking around everywhere, ojou-sama," Ryō said, not bothering to look up in favor of fiddling with his bandana. "I figured that it would be better for me to just wait here for you to be done talking with Yukihira."

"Hmph," Alice turned and pouted angrily at the reminder about Sōma. "Well that was for nothing. I couldn't find Sōma-kun anywhere."

"Oh?" Ryō looked up with semi-interest at this new fact. He had figured that she had just been talking to the transfer student for a long time. But in reality, she had been searching for him. If she had spent that much time looking and couldn't find him, then maybe he had been fired. "Did he fail?"

"Not from what I've heard," Alice bemoaned, trying to figure out just what was going on. The night was almost up and she didn't get to tease him at all today. Honestly, it was pretty annoying. "I don't get it. Where could he have gone?"

Ryō yawned loudly before standing up. At seeing Alice turn towards him angrily, he held a hand up to stop her from yelling. "I'm going to head to the baths if there's nothing else that you need. I can ask around and see if I can figure out what happened to him while I'm there, ojou-sama."

Alice blinked and stared at Ryō as if she was looking at him for the first time. It wasn't often that he was so damn helpful without her ordering him or forcing him to be.

"Is that ok?" Ryō asked again after not getting an immediate reply from Alice.

"Y-yeah," Alice nodded after catching up with the conversation. "Good thinking, Ryō-kun. Go ahead and do that."

Ryō nodded and left, happy that he didn't get ordered to do anything else. Hopefully he could stay in the baths even longer under the guise of asking around for information. He could only hope.

* * *

A short time later, Ryō sighed and leaned against the edge of the bath as he enjoyed the quietness. Or at least, he would be enjoying it were it not for a certain pair of idiots causing a ruckus.

Daigo and Shōji.

Ryō stared at them impassively as they continued to yell and splash each other. He wished that he could put them in their place. Unfortunately, he had left his bandana with the rest of his clothing in a bin in the changing room. As such, he couldn't go berserk on their dumb asses. For now, he would just have to hope that they would leave soon.

Unfortunately, they didn't. On the plus side, they did stop and start asking others about Sōma after a while. Ryō listened in carefully, since he was wondering about that too. Most of the students those two asked fell into two different categories. They either didn't know what happened to Sōma or they didn't care about what happened to Sōma. Those students who fell into the latter category were quickly scared out of the baths by Daigo and Shōji.

Ryō quickly got bored after a while and started to tune them out. It was rather easy since they weren't even half as annoying as Alice. A fact that he would never, ever mention out loud. It wasn't until someone they asked acted differently that Ryō started paying attention again.

"That transfer student, huh?" A guy that they had asked said. He looked up in thought before nodding. "Yeah, I was in a class with him. I wasn't paying much attention though; it was a really tough one."

"Isn't everything here tough?" Shōji asked sarcastically.

Daigo nodded empathetically.

"But it was!" The student said. "It wasn't just any alumnus that we had; It was Shinomiya-senpai."

' _Ah,'_ That rung a bell in Ryō's head. _'The prick with glasses.'_

"The first seat?" Daigo asked, completely floored at hearing who the session leader was.

"Yeah," The student shivered. It was quite a feat considering where they were. "He was really scary. Over half of the class failed his test. Yukihira managed to pass somehow. Tadokoro-chan, on the other hand…" Here, he looked away reservedly.

"She failed?!" Daigo grabbed the student and forced him to stop looking away. "Is that what you're trying to say?!"

"Sort of," The student said slowly. "I-I mean, Shinomiya-senpai said that she failed the test. Then Yukihira started arguing with him. After that, well, Yukihira challenged Shinomiya-senpai to a Shokugeki."

' _What?'_ Ryō thought, suddenly paying a lot more attention to their conversation.

"What?!" Daigo and Shōji both yelled out in shock. Neither of them bothered with yelling at the other for copying them. They were both wondering if they had heard correctly.

"Yeah," The student laughed, slightly hysterical at thinking back on that moment. "But Shinomiya-senpai said no, of course. After that, the session ended and everyone left."

"But then what happened to them?" Shōji asked, glaring at the student for not giving them that crucial information.

"Well, Gin-senpai came by and wanted to talk to Shinomiya-senpai. I think that Yukihira and Tadokoro-chan went with them. That's all I know." The student said shakily.

Seeing that they no longer needed to talk to him, the student got up and left.

"Shit…" Daigo murmured, staring down at the water.

"Yeah," Shōji said. He scratched his head restlessly. "The others aren't going to like hearing about this."

"No kidding," Daigo agreed. "Dibs on not telling Yoshino about it."

"Huh?!" Shōji glared at Daigo. "The Hell, dude? You should be the one to tell her!"

"I called dibs on not doing it," Daigo said proudly before pushing Shōji away. "So you do it!"

"Why you!" Shōji moved to tackle Daigo.

"That's it!" Daigo grabbed Shōji and tried to get him off.

They started to fight, causing everyone around them to move away to avoid being caught up in it.

Ryō decided it was now time to leave the baths while resolving to finish extra early tomorrow so he wouldn't have to put up with those two idiots again. Now all he had to do was go and try to figure out where the Shokugeki would be held. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long. After today, he really wanted to sleep. This training camp was just too noisy and boring.

* * *

"He did what?!" Alice yelled out after hearing what had happened to Sōma.

"I just told you, ojou-sama," Ryō said, masking his irritation as he rubbed his ears. He was starting to regret finding out what had happened to the transfer student, only because of Alice's reaction. "Yukihira challenged Shinomiya-senpai to a Shokugeki to save Tadokoro from being expelled."

"For the dunce?" Alice asked again, trying to recall Megumi. She was nowhere near the top of the class. Although Megumi had been doing better lately from what she had seen. That could most likely be only because of Sōma though. "He's going to get expelled trying to save her?"

"Ah." Ryō nodded apathetically. He didn't really care either way. Although he was a bit curious to see what they would be cooking up. Despite his efforts, marginal as they were, he couldn't figure out where the Shokugeki would be held. Snooping any further could have been dangerous, so he decided to just go back to Alice.

"Grrr…" Alice paced around the room angrily over this turn of events. Challenging Ikumi was one thing. But Kojirō? That man was in a totally different league. Even she would balk at the thought of challenging him. Not to mention the fact the Sōma had challenged him in order to save Megumi. That fact actually irritated her more than anything else for some reason.

"Will that be all then, ojou-sama?" Ryō asked after a few minutes. He had expected Alice to complain to him or to order him to do something. Honestly, he was a bit surprised that nothing had happened. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was definitely unusual. She didn't even seem to notice that he had asked her a question. Was the transfer student that entertaining to her that the thought of him getting expelled actually worried her this much?

"Hm?" Alice turned and looked at Ryō after realizing the he was still here. "Oh, good work. You can go ahead and leave now, Ryō-kun."

"No problem," Ryō said before turning to leave. Right after opening the door, he turned to look back at Alice who had resumed pacing. "Are you sure you'll be alright, ojou-sama?"

"Go to bed," Alice waved at him lazily to leave. "We only have two more days here. We should enjoy it while we can."

"Right." Ryō nodded and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Alice missed the look of slight worry on Ryō's face as he left.

"Ugh, that stupid fool." Alice moaned despondently as she jumped into her bed. Despite having a large room all to herself, it was really hard to enjoy it when she was forced to worry about Sōma. If it was a Shokugeki with an alumnus, there was next to nothing she could do to interfere. At this point, she could only hope that the alumni would decide to pity him and allow him to stay. The possibility of him winning was zero. Actually, it was less than that since the alumnus in question was Shinomiya Kojirō.

Alice was starting to wish that she had gotten Sōma's number earlier. It would have made sense, since they were partners for a project. The only reason it had slipped her mind was because they were seeing each other on a very consistent basis. Now she was paying for it. And with it being so late, there was no way for her to call someone at Tōtsuki to find out his number without giving herself away. She knew that is she did, her grandfather would be notified somehow. And if her grandfather found out, her mother and father would both be told almost instantly. Which then, in the end, would make them call her and quiz her on why she needed a boy's number so late at night. No thank you.

With an angry huff, she grabbed her blanket and threw it on top of herself. There was nothing she could do now. In the morning, she would find Sōma and make him pay for making her worry so much.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Huh…" Sōma looked around in confusion.

With the Shokugeki with Ryō coming up, Sōma had decided to do some last minute shopping for ingredients. It was pretty late at night, and there was barely anyone in the store. At least, that was what he was thinking until he had reached the back of the market and noticed all of the sprawling bodies on the ground.

They appeared to be students from other schools. But based on their uniforms, none of them were from Tōtsuki though. Sōma glanced around uneasily to see if there was an obvious reason for what had happened. None of the other customers were paying the bodies any mind. Could it be a normal occurrence?

Walking passed them, he went towards the area with the bento. After looking around the section, he sighed sadly. It looked like he had missed his chance to get some half-priced bento.

' _I guess I'll have to come here earlier next time…'_ Sōma thought glumly before leaving, being careful not to accidentally step on any of the unconscious bodies.

* * *

 **A/N: So after this, logically, is the egg dish for breakfast challenge. Erina will be surprised by Alice and** **Sōma** **knowing each other, I bet.**

 **For those of you that didn't get it, this OMAKE implied a crossover with an anime/manga/light novel called Ben-To. In it, at the end of the night, markets put a discount on bento. Customers, usually hungry teens, all fight amongst themselves to get a bento box for themselves. It's a war zone…**

 **There will be one more OMAKE until** **Sōma's and Ryō's Shokugeki. Any thoughts or ideas about how it goes/ends? I'm wondering what type of dish they should make too. Any suggestions would be helpful.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N: And here's the next part. Not much to say right now. We're getting into the night before the egg dish challenge.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

Alice tilted her head in befuddlement as she walked around the main banquet hall. After being unable to see Sōma all day because of the increased work load, she thought she'd be able to find him here. A part of her wondered if he had lost the Shokugeki with Kojirō. She knew that wasn't the case though, since she heard some people complaining about the transfer student in-between lessons. Apparently they still thought Sōma wasn't worth anything despite all that he had accomplished without going through the middle school section like the rest of the students. She chuckled at the hilarity of it.

Ryō glanced at Alice weirdly but decided not to ask what she thought was so funny. Chances were, he didn't want to know. He kept walking behind her dutifully while inwardly scoffing at how weak and tired everyone else looked.

"YUKIHIRAAA!" Two angry voices yelled out at the same time.

' _Speak of the Devil,'_ Alice thought smugly as she walked in the direction of the scream after motioning to Ryō to hurry up and follow her. The students quickly moved out of her way as she walked by. _'Bingo.'_ She smirked at the sight of the red-head she had been looking for.

Mito and Takumi were both standing in front of Sōma and were yelling at him. From what Alice could tell, they had also found out about the Shokugeki. It seemed like they believed it, something which marginally surprised her. The few students she had heard talking about it seemed to believe it was just a false rumor. It wasn't without merit though, since no one could believe another student would be stupid enough to challenge an alumnus to a Shokugeki. She would have most likely not believed it herself had she not been there to see Sōma do pretty much the same thing when he took over the Shokugeki for the Don RS

Their conversation continued, and Sōma started to look bummed out as he shook his head at the two. It looked like they really wanted to know what had happened. As Alice got closer, she was about to speak up before everyone paused and looked towards the door in surprise. Following their line of sight, she pursed her lips at the obvious reason for their lack of attention to her. Erina had entered the room. Alice rolled her eyes at the sight of everyone's blatant staring, which turned into a glare at Erina after seeing her share a glance with Sōma.

"It seems like everyone has arrived," Gin's commanding voice said, instantly bringing everyone's attention to him. "If you will all please look towards the stage. The reason I asked for all of you to come here is so that I can inform you all about tomorrow's test."

Around the banquet hall, whispers broke out as everyone wondered why Gin was telling them this ahead of time unlike with the other tests. A sense of foreboding filled the hall.

Alice quirked her eyebrow as she listened on with marginal interest. It didn't matter what she had to do tomorrow. She would pass no matter what.

"So we need to make a dish for breakfast?" Sōma asked. "That sounds like fun."

Alice's eyes widened as she turned to look to her side.

Sōma stood there nonchalantly as he listened to Gin. After noticing Alice's staring, he looked over and grinned at her. "Hey, Alice-san. It's good to see that you're still here."

"Likewise," Alice managed to reply. She looked past him. His friends were looking at him, and her, in shock. Even Erina had the same look on her face. She turned away to hide her smirk from them. "So what bring you here, Yukihira Sōma-kun?"

"Eh," Sōma shrugged. "They were getting pretty nosy over there, so I thought I'd come and hang out with you."

"And you think that I'm not curious about your Shokugeki with Shinomiya-senpai?" Alice questioned lightly, not betraying her inner thoughts on how angry it had made her that he had done something so foolish. Although the other side of her was touched that he had decided to come and talk to her.

"Are you?" Sōma asked curiously. "And wait, how'd you know about it?"

"I have my ways." Alice said smugly.

Ryō sighed quietly from his spot behind the two of them.

"Ah," Sōma snickered at the vague answer. "I see. I'm pretty sure that you can use those same ways to figure out what happened then."

"So you're not going to tell me? Your project partner?" Alice stepped a bit closer and bit her lip sadly. She sniffed a few times for good measure, making it look like she might cry.

"M-maybe later?" Sōma said, stuttering at the sight of Alice's out of character behavior.

' _That's going to come back to bite him.'_ Ryō thought morosely as he watched Sōma get easily played by Alice.

"I guess that'll do." Alice said with a mock sad sigh.

"That main ingredient will be eggs!" Gin said loudly, holding one up as an example. He had a fierce smile on his face as his gaze slowly swept over the students. "It doesn't matter if the dish is Japanese, Western, or anything else. Keep in mind that the format will be a buffet-style breakfast. The exam will start at 6 A.M. tomorrow morning, have your dishes prepared for tasting by then."

"I guess we'll be going to bed a bit later than usual tonight." Sōma said, looking towards Alice with a wry grin on his face.

"I suppose." Alice yawned. Already, ideas were forming in her head. There were lots of things she could do to show off in this challenge. Things no one else would ever think of. It was already an easy pass. All she needed to do was decide on which dish would be the best.

Almost everyone else in the hall didn't share their lax opinion on the challenge. Pandemonium had erupted as soon as the time of the challenge had been announced. The announcement that they could use the kitchens as they pleased in order to prepare for the challenge didn't help at all. As soon as Gin gave the dismissal, almost everyone made a mad dash for the nearest kitchen.

"Huh," Sōma looked around as he kept pace with Alice and Ryō as they left the hall with the main crowd. "Where did everyone else go?"

"Who?" Alice asked distractedly as she pushed Ryō in front of them to clear a path for them to a decent kitchen.

"My friends," Sōma scratched his head. "I guess we left them behind."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Alice said. She really wasn't. This worked out in her favor. The less distractions around, the better. And the sooner he was away from Erina, well, the better off they both were. "You can cook with Ryō and I though."

"Hn." Ryō grunted.

"That's means yes." Alice explained to Sōma.

"Sure," Sōma finally stopped looking around and started paying attention to where they were going. "Aren't we going kind of far?"

"The less people around, the more ingredients for us," Ryō said before Alice could give a lengthy explanation. "And there will be less people making a mess around us."

"Pretty much what Ryō-kun said," Alice said in agreement. "So, have you thought of what you're going to make yet, Yukihira-kun?"

"I have some ideas," Sōma said carelessly. "There's one that I used for the entrance exam."

"Oh!" Alice's eyes widened in delight at the reminder of the dish. "That Furikake Gohan?"

"You know of it?" Sōma asked in surprise.

"Somewhat," Alice said coyly. "I've never had anything quite like that before."

"I'd have been surprised of you had," Sōma grinned at the acclaim. "It's actually called a Transforming Furikake Gohan. It's a secret menu item, #8."

"I can see why," Alice thought back to the dish. It had definitely been a surprise, especially from a transfer student. She was beginning to wonder about his home life. His diner would need to be looked into. "It was really good."

"You think so?" Sōma asked.

Alice paused at the tone of Sōma's voice. It sounded a tiny bit insecure. It was strange, to hear him sound like that. He sounded a bit like her in the past, before she left to Denmark. It wasn't a welcome reminder. She turned and looked at him curiously. "Yes. It was delicious."

"I see," Sōma nodded to himself, some tension leaving his shoulders. "It was delicious? That's good. You know, Nakiri said that it tasted awful."

"Figures," Alice clenched her fist tightly. That was just like Erina to say something like that. She would know, she had been on the receiving end of that word from Erina a lot when they were kids. Even now, it ground on her nerves. It wasn't too much of a surprise to hear that Sōma had been told that to, but it still annoyed her. It annoyed her a lot. "Don't feel too bad about it. The only cooking that she likes is her own. That's all."

"That sounds petty." Sōma said, not understanding how anyone could possibly view food that way.

"That's Nakiri Erina." Alice replied stonily.

"Oh." Sōma stopped suddenly.

"Hm?" Alice turned and saw that Sōma was staring at something ahead of them. Looking, she smirked at the familiar sight. "Oh look, speak of the Devil, and she shall appear."

Ryō stepped back, standing on Alice's other side while idly playing with the hard black and white balls Alice had given him. It was annoying, but it was even more annoying to hear her bitch about him not having them out when she wanted him to be intimidating. He glanced over to see how Sōma was reacting to this. Ryō had to hand it to him, he had quite the poker face. Sōma's expression was completely blank.

' _Then again, he could just not care at all'_ Ryō thought at seeing Sōma glance over at a clock on the wall.

"Don't get too comfortable on that high horse of yours," Alice said as she walked by Erina. "You won't be sitting at the top for much longer. Got that?"

"Hmph," Erina smirked coldly. 'Thanks for the warning. I'll heed your advice… as a practical joke from a commoner."

Erina spared an oblivious Sōma a quick glance before making her leave.

"So what was that about?" Sōma asked tactlessly after Erina was out of sight.

"Nothing much." Alice and Ryō replied at the same time.

"Hmmm." Sōma crossed his arms and stared at the two of them for a moment before shrugging indifferently. It wasn't that big of a deal.

A few minutes later, they had arrived at their kitchen. It was definitely out of the way from all of the others. But thanks to that, they were the only three people occupying it. A welcome change of pace since now they would be able to think in peace. And for Alice, well, she would be able to see a bit of Sōma cooking.

Speaking of Sōma…

"This probably goes without saying, but don't make that Transforming Furikake Gohan. Ok?" Alice said, staring hard at Sōma. She had seen him start grabbing familiar ingredients. Ingredients that could be used to make that dish.

"Huh?" Sōma stopped what he was doing and stared back at Alice. "Why? I thought you said that it was good."

"It isn't bad," Alice said nonchalantly. A bit of an understatement, but it didn't matter. "But this is a buffet-style breakfast at a high class resort. A dish like that has no place here."

"I guess you're right," Sōma nodded in agreement. "So this **buffet** thing that Doujima-senpai said is like a smorgasbord, right?"

"Close enough," Alice said carelessly as she opened a nearby fridge. She was examining the eggs in front of her, making sure that they were right for her dish. "So make sure that it tastes good and it gives a high-class feeling. This is a Tōtsuki resort, after all."

"There sure are a lot of things to think about," Sōma laughed despite the parameters of this assignment. "Well fine then, let's get started on this new egg dish for Tōtsuki resort."

Sōma tightened his apron and looked at the ingredients in front of him.

' _I still have no idea what to make…'_ Sōma thought cheerfully. _'So for now, I'll just have to make all the egg dishes that I know.'_

Within several minutes, he had managed to make a few dishes. Some Japanese, and some Western. He eyed them both carefully before taking a bite out of each. "DELICIOUS!" He couldn't help but shout out loud.

Alice and Ryō glanced over at him and checked out what he had made. Alice frowned a bit while Ryō snorted and looked back at his own area.

Sōma frowned after he finished eating both of his dishes. They were good, but they weren't good enough. He decided to test out a few more ideas.

Alice watched over Sōma carefully. Thus far, he didn't seem to be doing anything very promising. Then again, like with his Shokugeki with Mito, he could just be warming up. She hoped that he was. Nothing he was currently making seemed worth eating even at a mediocre restaurant. Was that many test dishes really necessary? She had a hard time believing that it was.

A quick glance at Ryō showed that he was on track with what he needed. As assumed, Ryō was making a fish dish using salmon roe. It looked to be a kind of soup. As normal, Ryō was working just enough to get it done. While this may be a challenging exam, it wasn't a contest. Thus, he wouldn't get heated up over it.

Looking back at her own station, she double-checked her ingredients. She didn't need much; eggs, white and spear green asparagus, shallots, cream and whipped cream, diluted seafood jelly, salmon roe, gelatin, milk, and a few other things. Simple, yet refined. That was what she was going for. Nodding in satisfaction, she started to work on her dish. It didn't take long for her to finish. A bit longer than she would have liked, but she couldn't afford to screw up this close to the end. After taste testing her dishes, she quickly threw the leftovers away and yawned. This wasn't as hard as she had thought it would be.

The sound of something heavy falling brought her attention over to Sōma. She walked over and checked out what ingredients he had brought to his station.

' _Eggs, sugar, heavy cream, salt, black pepper, tomato sauce…'_ Alice listed off the ingredients in her head until her eyes fell upon a bowl with an egg beater in it. _'No… he can't be…'_

"Woah!" Sōma yelled out, causing Alice to look up at him. "I didn't realize you were here. Are you done already, Alice-san?"

"More or less," Alice said, still looking at Sōma's ingredients in disdain. "It looks like you'll be making something pretty interesting, Yukihira Sōma-kun."

"Uh, thanks," Sōma said, laughing weakly. His heart was still beating fast at seeing her appear so close to him without noticing. Although she seemed to be focused intently on his ingredients for some odd reason. He glanced at her weirdly. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Alice nodded and waved. "I'm heading to bed now. I'll see you tomorrow, Yukihira-kun. Come on, Ryō-kun."

"Yes, ojou-sama." Ryō said, walking up towards them. He passed them both, sparing a glance at Sōma's station before continuing on. Once he got to the door, he opened it for Alice.

"Good luck with your test runs." Alice called back without looking at Sōma before leaving the room.

Sōma watched them leave curiously before turning to look down at his ingredients.

"That was disappointing." Alice lamented immediately after they had both left the kitchen.

Ryō glanced at Alice but didn't respond. It went without saying, what she was talking about.

"Compared to everything that has happened so far with him," Alice continued, biting her lip angrily at the thought. "What a disappointment. I can't believe he's going to make that, of all things. I guess that we won't be seeing him after tomorrow. What a waste."

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"I hope you're all ready for this Shokugeki!" Urara called out, winking playfully at the audience.

The guys cheered.

The girls booed.

It was a normal Shokugeki at Tōtsuki Academy. Or at least, it would be were it not for the two people who were about to fight in the Shokugeki.

Kurukiba Ryō vs. Yukihira Sōma.

"We have the three honorable judges," Urara said, pointing towards the judge's corner. "The famous Chef Gordon Rams-"

"What the %^&* am I doing here?!" Gordon yelled out.

"The culinary expert, Andrew Zimmern!" Urara continued, undeterred.

"I will eat pretty much anything." Andrew said, laughing boisterously.

"And last, but certainly not least, the current first seat here at Tōtsuki Academy… Tsukasa Eishi!" Urara finished excitedly.

"I-I'll do my best." Eishi waved hesitantly at the crowd.

Everyone cheered louder.

' _I hope I don't screw this up…'_ Eishi thought glumly. _'What if I say the wrong thing? What if my taste buds suddenly stop working? Then what do I do? What will I say? Why am I even a judge?'_

"The theme is bizarre cooking!" Urara said. "Now, from each corner, both contestants may enter the stage!"

Sōma and Ryō both confidently strolled up towards the stage.

"If Yukihira-kun wins, Kurokiba-kun will teach him some of his specialty dishes. If Kurokiba-kun wins, Yukihira-kun will… become Nakiri Alice-san's slave." Urara finished with a heavy blush.

An uproar broke out throughout the stadium.

"Huh?" Sōma looked at Ryō. "I thought you said that I would become her aide if I lost the Shokugeki."

"Tomato, tomato (to-may-to, to-mah-to)," Ryō said with a shrug. "It's pretty much the same thing."

Up in the stands, Alice leaned against the railing and looked down upon the stage with a wide grin.

In another part of the stands, a very red Erina was trying to not faint.

In another part of the stands, Megumi fainted.

* * *

 **A/N: So now, the next chapter will have the 200 dish challenge and the banquet. Things will be a bit different then, since Alice doesn't want Sōma to get fired. And, she has some, uh, payback to deliver to some people. You'll see what I mean when you read the next chapter.**

 **And of course, the finale of this OMAKE arc will be done with the next chapter. Who do you think will win? Yukihira Sōma or Kurokiba Ryō? Be sure to include a why you feel that way in your response.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	17. Chapter 16

**A/N: Here we are, at the end of the training camp. Hopefully you like how it goes. More changes with this chapter.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

A new day finally dawned on Tōtsuki Resort. The fourth day of the training camp. With it, most of the students made their way sluggishly towards their respective halls in order to set up and prepare the dishes that they had come up with during the long and harrowing night. The halls were all busy and noisy with the students trying to finish the prep work needed.

Some of the students were yawning, being unable to sleep at all because they had been testing dishes all the way until sunrise.

Alice wasn't one of them. In fact, she wasn't doing much at all at the moment. She was having Ryō do all of the heavy lifting to get her ingredients to where she wanted them to be while she leaned against the counter and watched bemusedly while occasionally giving out orders.

"Not there, move them like a foot to the right." Alice said, vaguely pointing in the direction.

"Yes, ojou-sama." Ryō said tiredly. He wasn't tired because he didn't get enough sleep. No, he was tired because of all of the orders Alice had given him this morning. If he had to guess, he would say that she was trying to distract herself from thinking about the stupid transfer student. He wasn't going to ask her about it though. That would just make her more irksome.

"Good," Alice checked the time after he finished. "Now go and hurry up with your own prep. You're almost out of time." She shooed him away.

"Yes, ojou-sama." Ryō cracked his back and neck wearily before walking over to his own station. He had already started boiling it before he had to help Alice in order to make sure that it was done on time. Now, all he had to do was place the finished product into the bowls before placing them out.

Alice watched Ryō from afar before nodding in satisfaction. He hadn't done much practice last night, as expected. And this morning, he had already made several changes to his dish. It seemed to be for the best. She could smell the dish from her stand, as could several other students. It smelled rich.

A new smell filled the hall, causing almost everyone to reflexively look in the direction of it.

' _That's… Hayama Akira.'_ Alice checked over his dish. It was hard to see from this distance. She started to make her way over to his station for a better look. Part way there, a familiar face entered the hall. A pair of them actually.

It was the same two from Chapelle-sensei's class. Honestly, she was shocked that they had managed to survive this long. Watching them, she fought not to smirk as they were stationed next to her. Taking one last look at Akira's station, she turned back to head over to her station. It didn't really matter what Akira had made. It wouldn't beat her dish. More importantly, ensuring that those two would fail this task was far more significant to her.

As Alice reached her station, the two of them both stared at her in shock and muted horror. She smiled at them coldly. Now a bit more interested in finishing up the task as soon as possible, she started to prepare her dishes. It barely took any time at all for her in order to finish the prep work. What made her dishes so interesting wasn't the elaborate design, but the elaborate thought that went into it. Smiling softly to herself, she gazed down at her work proudly.

' _This is perfect,'_ Alice thought smugly. _'If only Erina and Yukihira_ _S_ _ōma-kun were here to see it.'_

The thought, instead of firing her up actually brought her down instead. For a number of reasons. Erina wasn't the same girl she had known back when she was a kid living at the Nakiri Mansion. And with Sōma… Well, he probably wouldn't pass this test. She figured that he would be lucky to even manage to serve eight plates of that soufflé dish of his.

"Are all of you prepared to present your dishes?" Gin's voice sounded from the speakers, cutting Alice off from her musing. "I'm now going to explain the conditions to pass this test."

Alice barely listened to Gin's voice in favor of looking around at the others in the hall. Nearly everyone appeared to be nervous. Those that weren't nervous looked either bored or confidant in the coming task. It was fairly certain that they would be able to pass, like her, without much trouble. It was only a question of when, and she planned to be the first.

As Gin was speaking, the doors opened and a crowd of people made their way into the hall. Alice eyed them curiously. She recognized a few people who had come to the mansion. None really stood out that much to her. The ones she did remember were more interesting in Erina than her.

On the other side of the hall, the staff from the cooking and service divisions of Tōtsuki Resort came into the hall. This was a bit harsher, but still not too bad. One who stood out was the Sous Chef, Sena Hiromi. It would be interesting to see what he liked in the hall. While the staff may be a bit more selective than the random judges, they would likely finish quick and make their way to the other halls.

"From now, you will all have to serve 200 dishes within two hours." Gin announced, causing a ripple of discontent to flow among the students.

' _Hmmm…'_ Alice eyed her ingredients. She would have enough for that amount and quite a bit more.

"Well then… Breakfast is served," Gin said, grinning at the students. "Please enjoy."

With that, the judges started to walk towards the stations. Students that had the judges walk by without even a glance looked on in dismay. It was obvious that it was going to happen. Dishes with no impact weren't even worth looking at, let alone tasting. No one came over to Alice's station, not that she minded. She would likely not be busy for the first hour, at most. It would take that long for the rumors of her dish to spread throughout the hall. Once it did, she would be all set. And more importantly, it would take away potential customers from the other students. Even better.

The shout from an excited child brought Alice's attention to the other end of the hall. Several boys and a couple of staff members were apparently quite intrigued by a dish over there. Alice narrowed her eyes as she saw just whose dish they were captivated by. Ikumi Mito. Alice took a quick glance around and, at seeing that there weren't any judges near her station, decided to walk over to Ikumi's station for a better look.

"This has such a high degree of perfection!" Sena exclaimed.

"Oh?" Alice had come by just in time to hear Sena rave about the dish. It seemed Mito had improved her cooking skills after her loss to Sōma. At least a little bit, by the looks of it.

Alice watched Mito closely while she was preparing her next tray of dishes. She supposed Mito was quite exotic, which explained why a lot of men were stopping by her. What with her short, bright blonde hair and tanned skin. The real killer was the bikini she wore though. It didn't make sense to Alice, how Mito figured a bikini top and short fringed shorts could be considered and used as proper cooking attire. Alice pursed her lips as she continued watching Mito work. Eventually, she was leaning over the counter to get a better look.

Once Mito was done with the next batch of dishes she turned around to place them on the counter only to see dark red eyes boring into her.

"What?!" Mito jumped back in shock. "Yo-you're…!"

"Hmmm…" Alice cocked her head and looked at Mito. "Aren't you Erina's underling? I haven't seen you around her lately though. Did she kick you to the curb or something?" Alice already knew that Erina had, she just wanted to see Mito's reaction.

Mito didn't disappoint.

"Sh-shut up!" Mito grinded her teeth at the pompous girl in front of her. It figured that a girl like this was related to Erina. She pounded the counter angrily. "Say one more word, and you're freaking regret it!"

"Aw, so mean," Alice sighed. Her eyes narrowed a bit as she suddenly remembered something. While she may not have seen Mito around Erina, she had seen her around someone else. "Before I go… How're things going with Yukihira Sōma-kun?"

"W-w-what?" Mito stammered out. She glared at Alice, trying in vain to hide her growing blush. "Why are you asking me that?!"

"Oh, no reason," Alice waved her had dismissively at the irate Mito. "Well, I should get back to my station. Bye bye~!"

With that said, Alice turned and quickly skipped back towards her station. As she headed back, several people by Mito's station and the ones she past turned and looked at her. Whether it was because of her looks or charm, it was hard to say. But their eyes did follow her as she headed back to her station. A few made a mental note to check it out once they were on that side.

* * *

Alice had to fight not to cackle triumphantly. Her 'Three Forms of Egg Dishes' were as huge a hit as she had expected them to be. It took a shorter amount of time than she had expected for word to spread throughout the halls about her dish. By now, there was a huge crowd in front of her station. People were even pushing each other in order to get a plate. The other student's stations were all practically bare in comparison.

Eventually, unfortunately, she ran out of ingredients. It wasn't all bad though. She had managed to serve 380 dishes. Far more than anyone in this hall. Loud groaning filled the hall as those who had come to have her dish realized she was done.

"Oh my…" Alice stared down at the empty containers mock shock. "I'm all out of ingredients… I never would have guessed that the guests would have eaten so much of my food."

"Hm…" Hitoshi glanced at Alice's area before nodding and marking something in his notebook. "Very well, you can end things like this."

"Thank you very much, Sekimori-senpai!" Alice chimed before leaving her station.

Glancing around, Alice noted several students already had their heads down in despair. It was their own bad luck, for being in the same hall as her. From what she could tell, Ryō and Akira were the only ones who had already hit 200 dishes, like her. Mito was the next likely to, although she appeared to be stuck at 150 dishes. Alice threw a quick smirk in Mito's direction when she turned to glare at her. That said, the students who were directly next to her suffered the worst. Both of them had served no more than five dishes. They just couldn't stand out at all, especially when being next to her. Alice patter her own back inwardly. That was two more annoyances gone now. No one could possibly serve up to 200 dishes under 40 minutes.

"See you later~!" Alice sang out, smiling widely at Mito as she walked past her station.

Mito glared at Alice's back angrily as she left the hall.

' _It looks like I have some free time now,'_ Alice thought, walking through the halls slowly as she pondered about what she could do next. _'Maybe I should go and check up on Erina. Hm… I wonder how Yukihira_ _S_ _ōma-kun is doing,'_

That thought spurned her to walk a bit quicker towards Hall A.

After entering the hall, Alice looked around the hall for Sōma. It didn't take long to spot him. It was easy, considering his hair color. That, and there was no one obstructing her view of him. She bit her lip thoughtfully as she saw Sōma looking down at his station in defeat. Looking past him, she saw that Erina was right next to him. Another nail in his coffin. Thanks to Erina, no one would even look at Sōma's station. Not that it would matter, since he made a poor choice of dish to present for the challenge.

Sōma started to move, getting Alice to focus on him again. It looked like he was making the same thing again. There was no difference in his actions. Alice wanted to go over and yell at him, but she held back. Maybe he had a plan.

Fortunately, it looked like he did. Sōma waved over a girl who was in the crowd surround Erina's dish. Then, he flipped the egg on the pan up in the air really high before catching it in a plate. He finished preparing it before placing it on the counter for the girl to pick up.

Alice's eyes narrowed as she wondering what Sōma was thinking. Slowly and steadily working up to 200 plates wouldn't work, not this late in the challenge. Then, she noticed some other staff members walking by looked over as the girl gushed about the dish. After them, a few more took notice.

As soon as a semi-decent crowd was around, Sōma reached back and pulled out four more portable stoves much to the surprise of Alice and Erina. He quickly started making the dishes, upping the pace with every batch. It was quite amazing, although still a seemingly wasted effort. But… He kept going faster. Not only that, but the crowd kept getting bigger too. People were even leaving Erina's station in order to try his. A fact that Alice took no small amount of glee in.

' _Live cooking, huh?'_ Alice gazed at Sōma. It was an interesting idea. Honestly, it might just work. But still, to put that much effort into such a simple task was such a waste. At least he wasn't making it boring.

The final five minutes came. As time ran out, more and more of Sōma's dishes were being eaten.

"Wow." Alice stared. It wasn't because of the dish would earn Sōma a pass for the challenge. Nor was it because he had managed to still customers from Erina. The skills he was showing, while substanstial, wasn't that impressive. It wasn't even that he was going to pass because she had a feeling that he wouldn't have failed despite his bad choice. No, the thing that enraptured her currently was his smile. He was smiling despite the critical situation he was in. She doubted even she would be capable of doing something like that.

"Yukihira Sōma," Gin's voice called out over the speakers. "200 meals completed!"

As soon as Gin uttered those words, the buzzer sounded to signify the end of the challenge. Alongside it came the sound of cheers and cries from the students.

Alice blinked, snapping out of her thoughts before sighing softly in relief at the sight of Sōma's triumph.

"Pheeeeeeew…" Sōma took off his headband and leaned against the counter. After a second, he looked over to the irritated Erina and smirked a bit before giving her a thumbs up.

"Wh-?!" Erina started to shout out before getting pushed aside by Alice.

"Now that was impressive!" Alice exclaimed, making her way in-between Erina and Sōma. "I thought you would get stuck at like eight meals."

"Alice-san?" Sōma blinked at Alice owlishly.

"But it looks like you managed to get barely get by with your skills." Alice finished, gazing at Sōma coolly.

"Hm?" Sōma quirked an eyebrow at her. "I passed, didn't I?"

"Only because of that stunt you pulled off," Alice pointed out. "Do you really think you can reach the top with that? It's not even close to being enough. That's almost the same as relying on luck. You need to know more, do more. Using cutting-edge theories is the best way to get to the top. Like my cooking, if you need an example."

"Yours?" Sōma questioned.

"What are you doing here, Alice?" Erina asked, irked that she was being ignored by both the commoner and even her own cousin.

"Hm?" Alice glanced at Erina before looking back at Sōma. "I just came to check up on things, cousin. That's all."

"Cousin?" Sōma looked back and forth between the two. Thinking about it, they did look and seem quite similar.

"Yes," Alice shrugged and pointed at herself self-importantly. "My name is Nakiri Alice. And I'm the one who is going to take the top seat. Remember that."

"You're a Nakiri?" Sōma asked, double-checking if he had heard right.

"That's right," Alice watched Sōma's reaction carefully. "Erina and I lived together in the same mansion until we were five." Now that brought back some memories. Some bad memories.

"Huh," Sōma's expression didn't change. "You know, that actually explains a lot."

"Like what?!" Alice and Erina both shouted at the same time.

Fortunately, Sōma was saved from having to answer that by the timely arrival of Ryō.

"Ojou-sama." Ryō said, walking up to all of them. Part of him didn't want to, but the other part of him didn't want Sōma to say something stupid and making Alice take out her anger on himself.

"You sure found me fast," Alice remarked. "Good work, Ryō-kun."

"It was nothing." Ryō said mildly. It really wasn't. Both Erina and Sōma were in Hall A. Where else would Alice have gone? The answer is nowhere.

"Well, you have perfect timing. Now, explain it." Alice ordered.

"What?" Ryō stared at Alice cluelessly. Despite knowing her for years, he still couldn't understand her.

"My history," Alice rolled her eyes. "Tell him about my past."

"Oh…" Ryō looked down in thought a bit before answering. "Well, ojou-sama and Erina-sama are cousins, an-"

"I already said that!" Alice complained, cutting Ryō off. "Never mind, I'll tell him myself."

Alice then listed off her past, and her ideals to Sōma. She watched Sōma carefully as she talked, checking if he was viewing her differently or something. The only time his expression changed was when she mentioned that she would get to the top with only molecular gastronomy.

"And now that I'm here, I'm going to stand on top of Tōtsuki and defeat Erina with what I've learned in Denmark." Alice proclaimed proudly.

"Hmph," Erina scoffed after Alice finished talking. "My cooking will never lose to a chef that only uses new techniques."

"I see you haven't changed at all!" Alice said, stepping up to Erina angrily. "Even when we were kids, you were like this. When we were three, you took my toy. When we were four, you said that the cake I baked for your birthday tasted disgusting. And then, worst of all, when we were five…"

"Enough!" Erina shouted, half embarrassed and half angry. "That has nothing to do with this!"

"Regardless…" Alice turned, making sure to now show Erina how hurt she was about that. Turning back to Sōma, she smirked and stared at him. "Then there's you… Yukihira Sōma-kun. You made quite the statement during the entrance ceremony. But from what I've seen, you won't be able to take to top. You don't have what it takes. I mean, you barely managed to finish this assignment."

"Yeah, that was kind of sad," Sōma laughed sheepishly. "I panicked near the end there. It was a huge failure."

Alice blinked, looking at Sōma in a new light. That wasn't the response she had been expecting from him.

"But now I've learned and gotten experience from this failure," Sōma explained, smiling at Alice. "It won't happen again."

"Hmm…" Alice stared at Sōma critically before nodding thoughtfully. "You really are something else, Yukihira Sōma-kun. Nevertheless, I won't be losing to either of you. I can't wait to fight you."

"Interesting," Sōma stared back at Alice. He hadn't expected her to want to have a Shokugeki with him. But he was up to it if she was. "I'll gladly be your opponent."

"It'll happen sooner than you think," Alice smirked. "This Autumn should be fun. Try to survive until then."

"Autumn?" Sōma asked in confusion.

Alice didn't answer. Instead, she laughed and waved at Sōma before leaving with Ryō.

Erina glanced between the two of them in confusion. For some reason, she really didn't like the two of them being chummy with each other. It would explain a bit as to why Alice had watched Sōma's Shokugeki with her. But to think that Alice thought Sōma had what it takes to take part in the Autumn Election. That was overselling him. There was no way that Sōma would be selected for such an event. Not on her watch, at least.

Erina was about to ask him about how he knew Erina, but the timely appearance of Megumi and Takumi dissuaded her. She listened to them berate him while keeping an eye on Alice. They didn't mention anything about Alice. It looked like she would have to question Alice herself later.

"This is a message for those of you who have completed serving 200 meals within the allotted time," Gin's voice boomed over the speaker. "The next assignment is in four hours. You all have free time until then."

The next sound that was heard was the stomping of feet as the students ran out of the hall to prepare for the rest of the last day at the training camp.

* * *

"What a fun day," Alice said, stretching a bit as she entered the lobby. "Wouldn't you agree, Ryō-kun?"

"I suppose so, ojou-sama." Ryō nodded slowly. The morning challenge had been the only interesting thing to happen during this trip, in his opinion. At least it was a bit more exciting than the academy had been thus far.

As usual, most of the other students looked tired. There were notabily less than there were after the 200 dish challenge. It was disheartening to see for some people. Not for Alice though. She looked through the crowd, trying to find the one chef who she was sure must be there somewhere. Sure enough, eventually she found Sōma standing around his friends near the middle. She sighed in relief.

The crowd of students suddenly fell silent at the sight of Gin's imposing form entering the hall. A few of the senseis followed behind him and stood by the door.

"Before we get the finale started, I have a few words to say to you all." Gin said, solemnly looking at the surrounding students.

Alice tuned him out, not really interested in this part of the program. The training camp was now over. All that was left was the final banquet before leaving tomorrow. And then once they were back at Tōtsuki, Sōma and she could finally get started on their project. It really would be an annoying thing. The only plus side, if it could be called that, would be that they had summer break to work on it. If there was one thing to be thankful to Malfroid-sensei for, it was for giving her an excuse to be around Sōma a lot.

"Ojou-sama?" Ryō whispered.

"Huh?" Alice turned to stare at Ryō.

"It looks like we're getting ready for the end." Ryō said, nodding towards Gin.

Alice looked over. It looked as though Ryō was right. Just as Gin announced the start of the final program, the students erupted into a mass of despair. Ryō snorted at the sight of how weak everyone looked. Alice playfully elbowed him and shook her head.

The banquet hall does unexpectedly opened, bringing everyone attention to the people coming out of it. The Tōtsuki Resort staff flowed out and formed a line on each side of the door.

"Welcome!" A few of the staff members nearest to the door called out.

"What?"

"T-this?"

"Seriously?"

Alice started walking towards the door calmly.

"To the 628 students who have survived up to this point…" Gin said, surprisingly gently. "Congratulations on clearing this phase of your year at Tōtsuki."

Some of the students looked at Gin with incomprehension.

"The last assignment is to celebrate the end of the training camp a modest banquet," Gin said, smiling as he gestured to the emerging alumni. "Please go and be seated. Now, we're going to have you all taste a full course made by your alumni!"

Everyone started to cheer wildly.

"I can't believe it!"

"What a time to be alive!"

"I think I can die happy now…"

"Ah, now this is service." Alice said, sighing in satisfaction as the smell wafting off of the dishes seemed to fill her up. She found an empty table and sat down. "Wouldn't you agree, Ryō-kun?"

"Yeah." Ryō said, eyeing the dishes critically. He'd never seen food this well prepared outside of the Nakiri Mansion. A swift kick from Alice reminded him of just what was going on and he sat down complacently next to her.

"So congrats, Nakiri." Sōma said. He walked up towards them casually and took the seat directly next to Alice.

"Nakiri?" Alice turned and pouted angrily at Sōma. "Really, Yukihira Sōma-kun?"

Alice was about to ask what he was doing here. But looking past him, she saw that the table with his friends was totally full. Moreover, they were looking over at Sōma in shock. She looked back at Sōma to hear his response.

"Don't like it?" Sōma laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I guess just Alice will do."

"Just Alice?" Alice asked. He wasn't even going to add anything to the end? Erina would have killed him if she were in Alice's position.

"Well, it's a bit weird calling you Nakiri since that's what I call Nakiri Erina," Sōma explained simply. "That said, you don't always have to use my full name when you're talking to me."

"Mhm…" Alice took a sip of her drink.

"Oh," Sōma looked past Alice. "Congrats to you too, Kurokiba."

"Same." Ryō said. He looked at Alice inquisitively and opened his mouth to say something before thinking better of it. Grabbing a fork, he decided to just enjoy the food.

"So any thoughts?" Alice asked Sōma.

"On the food?" Sōma asked, holding a piece of meat on his fork up as an example. "It's delicious!"

"Not that," Alice said, giggling a bit at his obliviousness. "I meant on the whole Nakiri thing."

"Oh, that..." Sōma's eyes widened at the reminder. "Yeah, I was really surprised. I can't believe that you're related to Nakiri Erina."

"Yes," Alice nodded dejectedly. "A lot of people say that." And then they ask her how Erina is doing or if she could introduce them to Erina.

"So are you going to start eating?" Sōma asked after finishing his current plate.

"Huh?" Alice looked at Sōma with a bemused expression on her face.

"The food," Sōma said, pointing helpfully at the plate in front of her. "You've only had like one bite."

"Oh, right." Alice grabbed her fork and knife and cut off a piece. Placing it in her mouth, she chewed it slowly, enjoying the flavor explosion in her mouth. It could have been just her, but for some reason, the second bite was a lot tastier than the first bite. She wondered why.

"Isn't it great, Alice?" Sōma asked, grinning at her.

"Yes," Alice nodded happily. "It really is."

* * *

 **OMAKE**

The stadium was completely silent. Students and staff members alike were looking down at the judges in shock. Never before, in the entirety of the history of Tōtsuki, had something like this ever happened. No one knew how to react. No one knew what to do.

Ryō and Sōma both looked at each other, completely nonplussed by the situation.

After eating Ryō's and Sōma's dishes, the judges all lost consciousness. Well, hopefully it was just their consciousness that they last and not anything worse.

"U-um…" Urara looked at the judges worriedly. Walking up, she poked each of them. Then she checked their pulse. "Well… It seems like they are all alive."

The audience breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"But we might want to call an ambulance," Urara said helpfully. She looked at the unfinished dishes next to the unconscious judges. "And maybe poison control."

"So what now?" Sōma asked Ryō as everyone else started moving, trying to help out however they could.

"Beats me," Ryō shrugged. "Call it a wash?"

"Or we could eat our own dishes and judge it ourselves." Sōma countered.

They both looked at their dishes and winced.

"Nah." They both said simultaneously.

* * *

 **A/N: Ok, well the training camp is finally done. The next chapter should have the ride home and the welcome back banquet at the Polar Star Dormitory. Alice will be there for both, obviously. More romance stuff won't really happen until the summer unless an idea strikes me.**

 **The OMAKE was annoying to think of. In the end, I couldn't pick a winner between those two. So yeah, a tie happened (sort of).**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: So in the last chapter, I said that this one would have them back at the Polar Star Dormitory. It won't. That'll happen in the next chapter.**

 **Also, attention, I have a tumblr blog where I post stuff (ideas and questions and thoughts and more) about this account. So… Follow me? The name is "stygianhazardff"**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Shokugeki no Sōma. And every time I read this manga, I get hungry.**

* * *

"Well I suppose this was somewhat of a decent vacation…" Alice said conversationally. She sighed when she didn't get an immediate response. "Neh, Ryō-kun?"

"Ah, ojou-sama." Ryō nodded grudgingly. His eyes narrowed at Alice's back though since he was once again carrying both his luggage and her luggage. While this was nothing new, the fact that she somehow was leaving with more bags than she had taken here was irksome to say the least.

Now that the summer training camp from Hell was finally over, everyone started making their way towards their busses. A few, very few, promising students were stopped by the Alumni as they were walking out. Alice and Erina were both skipped over since every one of the alumni knew that those two are either too good for them or not interested in working for them.

Alice did note that quite a few of the Alumni were surrounding Sōma and Megumi. She paused to watch the scene. Interestingly enough, it looked as though most of the alumni were interested in Megumi of all people. It was a bit strange, considering her abyssal grades. Then again, Megumi did have Sōma to help her. Alice gritted her teeth at the thought. Her irritation only grew further at seeing Fuyumi-senpai walk up closely to Sōma. Too close.

"Ojou-sama?" Ryō questioned. "Do you want to go over there?"

Alice had half a mind to do just that. And had Fuyumi not just walked away from Sōma, she would've done so. As it was, there was no need to go over there.

"We're fine," Alice sniffed. "Let's hurry and get on our bus."

"Right," Ryō said. Then, at seeing Alice puff out her cheeks and glare at him, he internally sighed. "Right, ojou-sama."

"Good boy," Alice smiled and turned around. "Now let's go."

"Hm." Ryō glanced back at the alumni, and then at Sōma, before following Alice out into the parking lot.

"I wonder what we should do when we get back…" Alice mused.

"Beats me." Ryō said blankly. It didn't matter either way to him.

"Maybe we should have a match…?" Alice asked, turning to smirk at Ryō.

Ryō's eyes sharpened. Turning, he looked straight at Alice. "I'm up for it."

"Great," Alice clapped, smiling as though she had just won a prize. "Hm, I wonder if I should invite Sōma-kun to judge."

' _Interesting,'_ Ryō nodded as Alice prattled on. That wasn't anything new. Bringing Sōma though. That was. Thus far, she had always gone to visit Sōma. That much was obvious. Her being away from the Nakiri Mansion was commonplace because of how much she disliked the place. No, she mainly hated the memories associated with the place. So she would always find an excuse to venture out. Lately, she had been using the same excuse. Visiting Sōma. Alice never used those exact words, but the intent was clear whenever she left. _'Guess things are getting serious.'_

Any other person might have gotten jealous about this, a close friend who was a girl showing interest in another guy. Not Ryō though. The more Alice fixated on Sōma, the less she was bossing him around. Already, he had gotten to be lazy more since this school year started than during any full year of the middle school section. Sōma is a Godsend that Ryō is more than happy to shove into Alice's path.

"Fine." Ryō said.

"Hm?" Alice turned, bemused at Ryō's response. She hadn't said anything that required a response from him.

"If you want Yukihira to come and judge us, I'm fine with it." Ryō said, not looking at Alice.

"Oh," Alice blinked owlishly. That wasn't what she had been expecting Ryō to say that. She hummed thoughtfully. "I was just joking about that though."

Ryō seriously doubted that.

"But if you're ok with it, I'll ask him," Alice said. Stopping at their bus, she pointed at the door. "Now go and put our luggage away."

"Of course…" Ryō yawned as he walked passed her into the bus. "Ojou-sama."

Chuckling a bit, she turned to check on Sōma's whereabouts. A quick glance around the area showed no Sōma in sight. She pouted at the audacity of the boy. Here she is, waiting for him and he isn't there. How rude.

Just when she was about to send Ryō to go and look for him, Sōma came around the bus.

"Oh," Sōma smirked at the sight of Alice. "Fancy meeting you here, Alice."

"Sōma-kun," Alice smiled in acknowledgment. A part of her, a very small part, was really happy to hear him call her by her first name with no honorifics. Ok, it was a big part. But she would never ever admit it. "I thought you might miss the bus."

"After all we've been through here?" Sōma fake shuddered in fear. "No way."

"Well congrats on making it to the correct bus," Alice said, patting the bus to emphasize her point. She was about to continue, but then noticed something odd about Sōma. She couldn't quite place her finger on it though. "Hmmm…"

"Something wrong?" Sōma asked. He still isn't used to Alice's stares. They just happened and he really wished he could know what she is thinking while she's staring at him so hard. Was there something on his face? Did he do or say something wrong?

"Where's your headband?" Alice asked once she figured out what was missing.

It didn't take her too long to figure it out. Sōma wore that thing on a daily basis. Sōma not wearing it just looked plain weird to her.

"Huh?" Sōma raised his left hand to show it off before looking at arm in shock. It actually was gone. "Crap! I left it behind."

Without another word, Sōma turned and started running back towards the resort.

Alice's eyelid twitched angrily.

Ryō, who had walked back up to the door after seeing that Alice wasn't coming on, came in time to see the end of their conversation. He smirked at Alice's back. That was probably the first time that someone had turned their back on her. Well, to his memory at least. The fact that Sōma then turned away and ran from her was just icing on the cake.

"Are you just going to stand here and take that, ojou-sama?" Ryō asked, egging her on.

Alice didn't reply in favor of angrily following after Sōma.

People who were sitting by the window on the busses promptly ducked out of sight once they saw the angry Nakiri walk passed them to avoid being the focus of her ire.

As soon as they were both out of sight, Ryō moved towards the last seat on the bus and laid down. The corner of his lip twitched up a bit. Finally, a whole bus ride with leg space and no nagging. He might just have to send Sōma a gift basket after this. Seafood themed, of course.

From further up the bus, Akira glanced back at the last seat. He could smell the satisfaction emanating from back there. Shrugging, he pulled out a cinnamon stick and gave it a whiff before leaning back into his seat as the bus started to move.

* * *

Alice sighed. 20 minutes passed by and there was still no Sōma in sight. She had thought that Sōma would be faster than this. Then again, his room was pretty high up. To think he would rather go back up to get it and miss the bus. Evidently, the headband was more important than she had thought. It may even be as important as Ryō's bandana. Yet another thing she would need to find out about him.

Pulling out her phone, she sent a text to one of the aides to have a car come and pick her up. With that done, she walked up to the building.

If Sōma isn't coming out, she's going in.

"Oomph!" Two voices huffed out.

"Ow…" Alice grabbed her forehead in pain.

"What?" Sōma groaned and looked to see what he had hit. He noticed two things. One, he had hit a person. Two, Alice's panties are as red as her eyes. He quickly stood up and offered his hand to her while turning away. "Sorry about that!" He stammered out.

"Sōma-kun?" Alice looked up at him in surprise. Then her eyes narrowed. No one ran into her and got away with it. "You have some nerve."

"It was an accident!" Sōma protested.

A useless effort, really. His protest fell on deaf ears.

"Hmph," Alice crossed her arms. "And after I went through all of the trouble, staying behind and ordering a car to come and take us ho-… to Tōtsuki."

"You…" Sōma didn't really know what to say to that. It would be really jerkish of him to not just let it go after she had done all that. Plus, his dad did tell him to never argue with a woman when it came to certain things. This seemed like one of them. He bowed. "I'm really sorry, Alice. For bumping into you and for keeping you waiting. Even if it was your fault." He muttered the last part lowly so she wouldn't hear it.

"Apology accepted." Alice said, smiling at him. Reaching up, she grabbed his hand and let him to pull her up.

"Thanks." Sōma made to pull his hand back, but Alice's grip wouldn't allow him. He looked at their joined hands before looking at Alice. "Um…"

"Allow me to show you to the car." Alice said, although it sounded more like an order. Without waiting for Sōma's response, she started pulling him towards the car.

"But ou-." Sōma started to say.

Alice's grip tightened around his hand.

"Nevermind." Sōma mumbled, seeing a lost cause.

As they neared the car, the driver opened the door for them. Alice all but pushed Sōma inside.

The inside was extravagantly lavish, unnecessarily so.

"This is a bit much; don't you think?" Sōma asked after he buckled himself in.

"Do you think so?" Alice looked around. "It's just one of our extra cars that was nearby. I would have preferred the special Nakiri Family Limo, but that's back at Tōtsuki."

' _What makes it so special?'_ Sōma wanted to ask. He didn't voice this aloud because he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know.

"Mhm," Alice yawned cutely. "It's a shame we left Ryō-kun back on the bus. He must be really bored by now without me around."

"Probably." Sōma nodded along. Part of him doubted it, but Ryō was more of Alice's friend than his. Maybe he had missed something.

"Summer break is coming up, isn't it?" Alice asked. She knew it was, but at this point she couldn't think of anything else to say to Sōma.

"Oh, I guess it is." Sōma had actually forgotten about it. What with everything that had been going on, he hadn't realized how quickly time was flying.

"Maybe we should work on our project then?" Alice hinted obviously.

"Yeah," Sōma grinned wryly. "That would be for the best. Malfroid-sensei would be pissed if we screwed up."

"Anyone would be," Alice pointed out. Grinning a bit, she poked Sōma playfully. "There's no way we can fail though."

"Oh?" Sōma looked at Alice. "And why's that, Alice?"

"Because we'll be the ones who become the First Seat and Second Seat, Sōma-kun." Alice said confidently.

"Well ye-." Sōma started to nod.

"I'll be the First Seat, obviously." Alice cut in.

"Huh?" Sōma rose an eyebrow. "That's a lofty goal you have there, Nakiri."

"Hey!" Alice pouted and slapped Sōma's arm. "We talked about that!"

"No; you talked and I nodded along." Sōma protested.

"Well we'll just have to see what happens during the Autumn Elections then." Alice said, smirking at the thought of the upcoming event. Oh, how she wished Erina were participating as well so that she could beat her too in front of everyone.

"The what?" Sōma asked, staring at Alice cluelessly.

"You really do know nothing, Sōma-kun." Alice should have known by now that Sōma had no clue about anything to do Tōtsuki. But even she needed reminders. And Sōma always reminded her.

"I know some things!" Sōma countered.

"Who created Tōtsuki?" Alice crossed her arms and waited for a response.

"Your ancestors." Sōma replied.

"Well, you're not wrong." Alice relented.

"Knew it." Sōma leaned back in his seat smugly.

"Long story short, there will be a competition among the first years. People will be chosen based on some criteria, we'll all show off our food, then one on one matches will happen until there's a winner." Alice explained. There was a bit more to do with it, and some history involved. But that didn't really matter. She was sure that Sōma would forget about that part later regardless of how interesting it may be.

"Huh, well that's easy enough," Sōma smiled. "I wonder why no one else told me about this."

' _They probably thought it was obvious and that you knew already…'_ Both Alice and the driver thought.

"Ah, speaking of the others…" Sōma snapped his fingers, remembering something important. "We were going to have a celebration at the dorms for surviving. Do you want to come too?"

"A party?" Alice parroted.

"Well, it'll probably be lower class than what you're used to." Sōma added, thinking that maybe Alice wouldn't be ok with that.

"No, I'll go!" Alice said suddenly.

"Really?" Sōma asked, grinning. "Great! The others would love to have you over. The more the merrier, as Isshiki-senpai always says."

"The Seventh Seat?" Alice asked. She didn't know that he was also living there. Then again, it's not like she ever met any of the Elite 10 unless her grandfather specifically wanted some of their cooking.

"Yeah, he's kind of weird." Sōma beamed.

"Birds of a feather flock together, after all." Alice loftily said.

"I wonder if all Elite 10 members are like that." Sōma mused out loud.

"I can believe it," Alice smirked. "Erina was such a strange child. That hasn't changed."

"Really? What's did she do back then?" Sōma asked.

"Well, there was this one time when I was 6…" Alice started.

The rest of the ride was spent with Alice telling Sōma all of the dirt that she had on Erina.

In another car, Erina shivered violently.

* * *

 **OMAKE**

"Isn't this place…?" Yūki trailed off, looking forward speculatively.

"I think it is." Megumi gulped nervously.

Behind them, everyone other member of the Polar Star Dormitory glanced at each other uneasily.

"Yes," Marui nodded, adjusting his glasses as he too stared at what Yūki is staring at. "This is the Nakiri Mansion all right."

"What should we do now?" Daigo asked.

"I don't think there's anything that we can do." Satō said dejectedly.

"We do have one option…" Sōma murmured, staring intently at the mansion in front of them.

"What?"

"You can't mean…?"

"No way!"

"We'll get expelled!"

"We shouldn't, S-Sōma-kun…"

"C'mon everyone," Sōma held up his phone, revealing his screen to them all. "Do you want to capture this Legendary Pokémon or not?"

Their eyes narrowed and their hearts hardened. Their decision had been made. They really had no choice, honestly. The prize is too good. It's worth any risk, even expulsion.

"Ok, we're going to break in and catch this thing if it's the last thing we do!" Sōma yelled, holding up his phone proudly.

"YES!" Everyone else followed suit right before they grabbed some vines and began to climb up the wall surrounding the Nakiri Mansion.

* * *

 **A/N: I had to do a Pokemon GO OMAKE for this after doing one for my Jurassic World fic. I hope you liked it.**

 **Well, for sure in the next chapter, Alice will meet** **Sōma's father. I'm getting a vibe that he and Alice's mom will be talking about what might happen in the future as well as make bets as to when they will hook up.**

 **There was a lot of things I wanted to do here that they all got scrambled in my brain. Such as Alice and Sōma being trapped in an elevator. Alice getting jealous about other girls checking out Sōma. One of the alumni flirting with him. Hm, I'll do all of those at some point later in the story.**

 **For those of you who watch/read Tokyo Ghoul, I'm going to make a one-shot for it. Pairing options are in a poll on my profile for those who are interested.**

 **Again, reminder, please feel free to follow "stygianhazardff" on tumblr for updates/thoughts about my fan-fiction stuff.**


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